Trinity has obtained planning permission for refurbishment of the Rubrics, College’s oldest surviving building.
College has sent out a tender for the refurbishments, which will provide residential apartment accommodation and ancillary study space.
The works will also include a new underground plant room. The contract will last for 18 months and is worth an estimated €9 million.
Refurbishments to House 10, a protected structure, will provide an access point to the Chief Steward’s House.
The works will provide 22 studio or single-bedroom units, 12 study bedrooms with communal living, dining and kitchen space.
Earlier this year, The University Times reported that the College estimated the refurbishments would cost up to €20 million.
The preliminary budget estimate for the refurbishments – seen by this newspaper – came to €19,933,784.
The figures were contained in documents submitted by Trinity as part of the tender process for the project, and included €7 million for the refurbishment of the Rubrics, €1.2 million for the Chief Steward’s House and €2 million on construction, equipment and professional costs.
The tender – for project management and quantity surveying services – was awarded to consultancy firm W H Stephens, with the budget also allowing for pre-tender price inflation of more than €1.5 million.
Last year, this newspaper reported that College was set to spend €860,000 on the project, which will see the refurbishment of the 300-year-old building “for residential and support uses”.
Bursar Veronica Campbell confirmed that the figure will pay “to get the design team appointed”.
She said the figure of €860,000 “is the amount currently approved on the project by Finance Committee and the draw down of the rest of the funding will be in accordance with governance and capital project stage-gates”.
The Rubrics provided accommodation for at least 18 students until the summer of 2017, when they were taken out of service. The action was taken “pending a decision on the renovation of the building”, Anthony Dempsey, Trinity’s then-head of accommodation, said at the time.
The building featured heavily in the recent hit TV show Normal People.
