- The Observer,
- Sunday November 25 2001
Trinity, home to the famous Celtic Book of Kells, plans to knock down Goldsmith Hall, award-winning student accommodation, to make way for a multi-storey 200-bedroom hotel.
Students, academics and senators who represent the college have united to oppose the project, which has been forwarded to Bord Pleanala and Dublin Corporation.
The hotel will be 20 metres higher than Liberty Hall, at present Ireland's tallest building. Trinity authorities claim the project will generate hundreds of millions of pounds for the university.
One of those opposing the plan is Carl White, editor of the student paper Trinity News. White lives in Goldsmith Hall, granted an award by the Institute of Architects in Ireland in 1997.
'The college authorities say Goldsmith's is architecturally unsound to justify knocking it down and putting up this skyscraper. But the award was won only four years ago.
'Two hundred beds for students will be lost once Goldsmith's is flattened. This will add to the student housing crisis in Dublin where the average Trinity undergraduate is paying £300 per month for a room.
'The other objection is that the skyscraper will tower over College Park, one of the nicest green spaces in Trinity. Tourists come to Trinity to see the Book of Kells and enjoy the Old World atmosphere. What will they think when they walk into the campus and see this massive multi-storey building looming over the college?'
Shane Ross, elected to represent Trinity College as an Independent member of the Irish Seanad (Senate), is normally bullishly pro-business but has called on the university to scrap the plan.
'If the college wants to build a skyscraper and make money leasing it out to a hotel chain then they should use a greenfield site on the outskirts of the city. Millions of tourists come to Dublin to enjoy its relatively unspoilt cityscape. The last thing they want to see in places like Trinity College is a multi-storey building sticking up out of the university's vista.'
Ross said he would stand against the project both in Trinity and in the Seanad.
Tim Cooper, director of buildings at TCD, stressed that the proposed multi-storey complex along with other buildings earmarked for the site close to Pearse Street Station would hinge on its architectural quality. He said that in the long run plans to redevelop the so-called 'north-east corner' of the campus would create more space for student accommodation and a new swimming pool and sports complex.
Cooper pointed to a recent report by Dublin Corporation, which recommended that a small number of tall buildings be built in the capital to cope with land pressure and exorbitant property prices in the city centre.
The High Buildings Report identified the Trinity site as one of 15 locations for tall buildings in the city.
