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New Library at UCD Smurfit School

Date: 10 Sep 2007

New Smurfit library

This September’s new student intake at UCD Smurfit School will enjoy the full fruits of the School’s new library. Built in the shell of the old church on the Carysfort campus, the library is Ireland’s largest purpose-built academic business library with 20,000 books and 5,000 theses. It extends over two floors, with common areas that can accommodate 150 wi-fi users.

The church was completed in 1895 and was built to the very best design standards of the period. It served as the chapel of the Sisters of Mercy while Carysfort was a teacher training college. In recent years it was used as a store room and its conversion to a library posed a number of challenges for the architects responsible.

The original fabric of the building, including the magnificent stained glass windows, was retained and the new library was built ‘suspended’ within the old building. This means that the original can be very easily restored by removing the new.

The construction of a mezzanine floor, with a stair case rising in the apse of the old church, increased the floor area. It also had the effect of making both the quality of the woodwork in the roof trusses and the stain glassed windows visible up close for the first time ever. Previously they would have only been visible from the ground.

In carrying out the conversion, the architects, Fitzgerald Kavanagh and Partners, worked closely with the conservation department of Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council.

Librarian John Steele also worked closely with the team to ensure the building conforms to the most up-to-date standards. John said “The new library premises will provide a state of the art study environment for students and staff. Desk top electronic links will enhance users’ access to over 5,000 business related journals.”

The conversion to the new library was made possible by a generous gift of €4m by a prominent member of the Irish business community who has, so far, chosen to remain anonymous. The School is obviously extremely grateful for this generosity, which can only be the benefit of our students.