Senior College Dun Laoghaire (SCD) is pleased to announce that the College has received approval from the Department of Education and Science, to proceed with its new building.
Dun Laoghaire VEC signed the contract for the new College building with Cordil Construction Ltd on Thursday 22 July 2010. McCullough Mulvin are the architects for the project. Construction commenced in August 2010 and the campus was expected to be completed within 15 months.
The building project has been delayed due to unforeseen difficulties outside of the control of the Department of Education and Skills and Dun Laoghaire VEC. Work is urgently continuing to have the project recommenced. We will provide updated information as it becomes available.
A model of SCD's new College Campus
When completed, this development, will bring together the College's four departments (Business, Design, IT and Beauty) onto one modern campus in the centre of Blackrock village and will transform the College and the educational services it offers. As part of the campus, the Town Hall will be refurbished and rebuilt to ensure that SCD students benefit from learning in state of the art educational facilities.
This huge State investment is attributable to the success of Senior College Dun Laoghaire over 25 years in facilitating learners, both full-time and part-time, achieve both educational excellence and valuable professional qualifications, benefiting themselves and the Irish economy.
Turning of Sod for New Campus
The Tánaiste, Mary Coughlan, TD, Minister for Education and Skills, turned the first sod, on Tuesday 17 August 2010, to mark the commencement of work on the site of a new Dun Laoghaire VEC College building in Blackrock, Co Dublin.
The event was attended by local TDs, County Councillors, VEC officials, County Council officials and other guests.
Carol Hanney, CEO DLVEC, expressed her delight in finally reaching this stage “The commencement of this new project has come at a very important time for Dun Laoghaire VEC. Senior College will be providing a wide range of full-time Further Education courses and part-time Adult Education evening courses. The development received approval at a crucial time when people are looking for opportunities to further their education and to upskill and retrain. The new building will offer greatly enhanced facilities to students and staff.”
The project follows an agreement between Dun Laoghaire VEC and Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council to allow for the refurbishment of three protected structures in Blackrock – the Blackrock Town Hall, the Carnegie Library and the Municipal Technical School. An adjoining three-storey over basement building will also be constructed. The new structure will be approximately 3,630 sqm with 250 sqm of atrium and garden space and will complement the existing structure of approximately 1,790sqm. The County Council Blackrock Library will also be incorporated in the new structure.
The architects, McCullough Mulvin, have a renowned track record in the refurbishment of old buildings and in the design of new buildings. They are eminently qualified for the project having recently won the 2010 RIAI awards both for Best Conservation/Restoration Project and for Best Educational Building.
The building contract was originally awarded to Cordil Construction Ltd., an Irish company based in Galway.
Dun Laoghaire VEC and its predecessor Blackrock Technical Instruction Committee have provided education in the Blackrock area since 1901.
Senior College Dun Laoghaire was established in 1982 under the statutory authority of Dun Laoghaire Vocational Education Committee. With over 1130 full time students and 550 part-time, it is one of Ireland's largest Further Education Colleges. The new building will bring together the College's four departments (Business, Design, Information Technology and Beauty) onto one modern campus in the centre of Blackrock village.
Architect's Drawing of New Campus
