First images of UCC's new €106m city centre business school

To be located on the former Brooks Haughton site on Cork's Copley Street

University College Cork (UCC) has applied for planning permission for the development of a world class business school in the centre of Cork City. The proposed new building will be home to Cork University Business School (CUBS). Credit: G-Net 3D

THE first images of what the new €106m Cork University Business School (CUBS) will look like if cleared by city planners shows a stunning, heavily glazed building, of up to six storeys, dominating the riverscape at the city end of South Terrace.

Designed by a team led by RKD Architects, the new school will give a dramatic facelift to what is largely a non-descript site, at the former Brooks Haughton premises on Copley Street, facing onto the south channel of the River Lee.

Its modern, edgy design will form a striking contrast with the Regency-Gothic style of Holy Trinity Church, on the opposite bank of the river.

The CUBS premises will extend to 15,675 sq m and will include world-class facilities, including a 350-seater lecture theatre, teaching and research spaces and a restaurant.

If developed, the premises will bring more than 4,500 students and 225 staff into the city centre every day. Image: G-Net 3D

It’s expected to deliver a significant economic boost to the area by bringing over 4,500 students and 225 staff into the city centre every day.

Professor Thia Hennessy, Dean of CUBS said they were “excited to submit our plans for the development of a world-class business school in Cork”.

“Significant benefits for the city, regionally and nationally can be realised through this development and much time has been spent ensuring we develop a sustainable building that enhances the local area and the urban fabric of the city.” Mark Poland, Director of Buildings and Estates at UCC, said the project, is part funded from the HEA under the Higher Education Strategic Infrastructure Fund, “and is part of an ambitious capital programme planned by the University in line with its masterplan strategy”.

The CUBS building is designed based on active travel principles, with access primarily via public transport, cycling and walking.

A courtyard, café and restaurant, roof garden and a new pedestrian laneway from Copley Street to South Terrace forms part of the submission, and UCC intends to conserve the historic 18/19 South Terrace as an integral part of the development.

UCC acquired the Brooks Haughton site from Dairygold for €17.25m in 2019. Picture: G-Net 3D

The CUBS school will complement the existing Centre for Executive Education which the university opened in 2018 in the refurbished Savings Bank on Lapp’s Quay.

Submissions can be made on the planning application until January 19, 2023, with the council setting a date for a decision to be issued on 9 February.

UCC acquired the Brooks Haughton site from Dairygold for €17.25m in 2019.

The area has seen further regeneration with the opening five years ago of the refurbished and extended Cork Courthouse on nearby Anglesea St at a cost of €35m, and more recently, a €5m ophthalmology department on Infirmary Rd, next to the Breastcheck facility.

Substantial redevelopment is also taking place across the river from the UCC site, with a new 187-bed €30m hotel due to open by the summer on nearby Morrison’s Quay. The Premier Inn is on the site of the former Moore’s Hotel, which ceased trading in 2005.

There are plans also for a 103-bed aparthotel on South Terrace, with the JMK Group, owned by the UK-based Kajani family, who are also behind a new hotel on Camden Quay at the former Atkins/McKenzie building, used as a temporary circuit courthouse and then a centre for the arts.