Trinity Hall is set for a major expansion, with up to 300 new beds to be constructed on the site in the next few years, The University Times has learned.
The development, which is currently in the early planning stages, will aim to provide accommodation to students at prices lower than those offered by private developers.
The College is working closely with Dartry residents to ensure minimum disturbance to locals during construction and to avoid conflict over planning permission in the future. No date has officially been set for completion of development.
An architect has been chosen for the project, out of five shortlisted designers. Speaking to The University Times, Dean of Students Kevin O’Kelly described how the architect was chosen with the aim of reducing “not necessarily the cost of building, but rental cost”.
A number of factors are considered by developers in assessing the likely rental cost of student accommodation.
Single bedrooms with an ensuite bathroom, popular in private, purpose-built accommodation complexes, are more expensive than multiple bedrooms built around shared bathrooms and kitchen spaces. Twin bedrooms can generally be rented out at the lowest cost, but are often unpopular with more senior students.
Tensions have long existed between Halls residents and Temple Rd homeowners, with many residents claiming that Trinity has for years been breaching the conditions of its planning permission.
The hosting of tourists on site – following a decision made by the College in 2017 – and noise levels going above the level agreed ranked among the residents’ chief concerns.
In one submission, a local resident said: “Residents in the Hall can act with impunity, safe in the knowledge that the revenue they provide is more important than the rights of their neighbours.” Another asked: “Are the big boy universities going to be allowed to bully the local residents and An Bord Pleanala again?”
The JCR has been encouraged to take steps to reduce noise complaints, including holding events likely to involve less noise.
College hopes that the new development will encourage private developers to follow suit in reducing the cost of accommodation for students. “If UCD and Trinity can both start developing models that help drive the rental cost down, it will put pressure on developers, because then students will have a choice”, said O’Kelly.
These new beds are not the only accommodation units College hopes to provide in the near future. Printing House Square, a new Trinity development planned to host students in the next academic year, will house 250 students.
Amid a major housing crisis, a huge focus has been placed on increasing numbers of student accommodation. The government’s student accommodation strategy, released in 2017, aims to increase the supply of purpose-built student accommodation and encourage the take-up of digs accommodation.
The strategy’s target, which is part of the government’s rebuilding Ireland plan, hopes to see the provision of 7,000 bed spaces by end 2019 and a total of 21,000 additional purpose-built beds by 2024.
