Papers of James Meenan – Move of UCD to Belfield

40 U.C.D. and the Future

of buildings on the site to a height at least equal to the tallest existing buildings around St. Stephen's Green, or even a storey or two higher, with still taller blocks if required, e.g. for a library 'stack.'

It is worth pointing out that on the site recently acquired by Comhlucht Siuicre Eireann Teo. (which runs from Earlsfort Terrace, almost opposite the College, to Lr. Leeson Street), we understand it is proposed to erect what newspapers headlined as a 'Skyscraper for Dublin'—an office block of eight storeys. We understand also that the Harcourt Street Station site might yet be acquired by an interested party, with the object of erecting on it a multistoreyed hotel block. In fact it might be said that only high buildings would be in character in this neighbourhood.

(2) The second of these sweeping statements of the Commission — 'High buildings are generally considered not suitable for the ordinary purposes of a University'—is put forward as a matter of fact. We contradict it and indicate our evidence below.

Neither we, nor any reader of the Report, know what exactly passed between the expert and the Commission. We have only the Commission's very brief version of the evidence, and with this we cannot agree. We most certainly cannot agree that 'buildings of two or three storeys' are 'orthodox' for a modern university either inside or outside a city. From the facts given above regarding the number of storeys in existing buildings in the neighbourhood it will be seen that two or three storeys are not orthodox even for dwelling houses in this part of Dublin.

Let us now look at some modern university and similar teaching blocks elsewhere. Amongst the new university buildings in Britain recently completed, under construction or planned—some of which were visited by members of the Commission and plans and models of others were shown at the exhibition which they saw at Reading—we may note the following:—

Sheffield—an Arts block of 13 storeys with other blocks of six and seven storeys for Biology and Physics. Southampton—a block of ten storeys for Engineering. Birmingham—a seven-storey Chemistry block. Liverpool—a nine-storey Physics block adjoining the laboratories and workshops. Aberdeen—a five-storey Chemistry block. Cambridge—a Chemistry block of seven storeys. Oxford—blocks of seven and nine-storeys for science and Engineering. Dundee—a 12-storeyed tower for teaching and administration. Imperial College, London—a Mechanical Engineering block of nine storeys. Newcastle—a six-storey block for Physics. Manchester—an Arts extension of six storeys.

Amongst colleges of further education we note:- Harrow—eight storeys. Ipswich—eight storeys. Harrow—seven storeys. Mansfield—six storeys.

U.C.D. Accommodation Needs 41

It must not be imagined that all the above buildings have been forced upwards by restricted sites—some of them are planned for quite open sites. A judicious balance of tall tower-like blocks with lower buildings grouped around them is common modern architectural practice for such complex institutions. If one wishes to keep five thousand students, and the university staff, in reasonably close contact with each other, then one must build upwards.

We could go on to quote innumerable examples of multi-storeyed university buildings in other countries abroad but we will content ourselves with pointing out that the most common height of the relatively new buildings at Rome is five storeys above ground level. We understand that at least one member of the Architectural Advisory Board went and inspected the Rome buildings on behalf of U.C.D.

In view of this evidence we feel that it is perverse to favour what the Report calls 'an orthodox two or three storeys' for new university buildings in this country. We have failed to locate any modern university that has confined itself to two or three storeys. The nearest approach to such an arrangement is that at Aarhus, in Denmark, where three and four storeys are the rule. This institution, however, is neither the largest in its country nor is it the university of a capital city, nor does it cater for five thousand students. The mere fact that a 'domestic style' of architecture has been found suitable for Aarhus would be no reason for suggesting that the same style is suitable for U.C.D.

We should like to make it clear, however, that if a reasonable amount of ground is acquired in the vicinity of Earlsfort Terrace (e.g. the 8.8 acres suggested in our sample scheme), the total requirements of U.C.D., including 20% for expansion, could be met there by building to no more than four or five storeys.

3. TYPES OF UNIVERSITY LAYOUT

Three main types of university layout are at present recognised:

1. The Collegiate—typical of the older 'Oxbridge' universities in which the buildings in the main centre around quadrangles, the 'colleges' being essentually residential.

2. The City Block type—characteristic of the newer 'Redbrick' universities and centred in industrial cities.

3. The Campus Style of university—essentially American in origin—having the buildings disposed over a wide area of parkland.

It is the third type which the Commission recommends building on the Stillorgan Road site. It accepts without question the College's prior decision to build such a university. That decision was taken as early as 1949, without any public enquiry as to suitability and without a thorough examination of possible alternatives.

It has yet to be shown that the Campus type is better or even as good as the other type of layout. Authoritive opinions can be quoted to the contrary. It is certain that it disposes its students and staff over a much wider area than the other types and equally certain that it is by its nature isolated from the city and from the community.

42 U.C.D. and the Future

In disagreeing with the suggested site plans proposed by the College's Architectural Advisory Boards and in suggesting (Report, p. 38) that the faculty buildings should be spaced out over the whole of the 250 acre site, the Commission has shown itself less wise than the experts. For the architects were aware of the grave difficulties attendant on such open planning as is recommended by the Commission and of the attempts currently taking place in Britain to rectify the worst excesses of the sprawl-planners, as at Keel, Reading and Nottingham. In the case of the last-mentioned, which has 'for the first time in a University, an "open" plan based on access by car, motorcycle or bicycle,' efforts are now being made to have at least part of the original plan 'drastically tightened up and re-landscaped,' although 'unfortunately the rest of the scheme seems likely to be left in its present scattered state.' All this, after the university has been half built!

We consider that the sites extending from St. Stephen's Green southwards to the Canal (or, taking the broad view, extending from the Green northwards to Nassau Street) are ideal for the development of a sequence of quadrangular enclosures. Such expansion by cellular or courtyard plan would embrace all the essential qualities needed in university buildings. Both teaching and residential blocks in Trinity College are so disposed around quadrangles, and the Science Buildings in Merrion Street might be considered as another such enclosure. Others could centre on Iveagh Gardens, the 'Station site' and 'The Lawn' (see sections V & VI). These three quadrangles would be immediately adjacent to each other, and the Science Buildings (if retained) would be only five minutes' walk away. Thus the faculties of the College would be more closely united than in the Commission's scheme. Such a quadrangular type of development is at once compact yet bright and airy, keeps both students and staff in close contact, and even within a city faces inwards, like the 'Oxbridge' colleges, enclosing its own precincts and shutting out, but not completely excluding, the outside world. Such a university within a capital city appears to us to be the ideal—it makes the best of both worlds.

D. W. Brogan, writing in the 'Cambridge Journal' (1952, V, 210), considers that the great civic university, closely integrated with the life of its city, has a considerable advantage over the older, more isolated cloistered foundations. If that be true of the provincial universities in the British industrial cities, how much more true it could be of a new U.C.D. fully integrated with our capital and situated in its very heart. 'Let the rulers of the civic universities of England (and Scotland) reflect,' writes Professor Brogan, 'that they, not Oxford and Cambridge (or Yale and Princeton) are the normal universities of the modern world.'

4. ATTITUDES TO COMPULSORY PURCHASE

One of the most extraordinary features of the Report is its refusal to recommend powers of compulsory purchase of property. In the case of U.C.D. the Commission writes: 'We would hesitate to recommend the granting of compulsory powers. The disturbance to homes and business would be too great' (Report, p. 31). Elsewhere in the memorandum we show (Section V) that, in fact, the disturbance need not be great.

In the case of University College, Cork, one member of the Commission goes so far as to insist on having a four-line minority report of his own,

U.C.D. Accommodation Needs 43

dissociating himself from the recommendations in so far as they 'may imply or contemplate the control and/or acquisition of adjacent private property compulsorily.' The property in question is open land as yet unbuilt on, which adjoins U.C.C. and which it obviously must have if any logical development is to take place.

We are at a loss to understand this extreme aversion to compulsory control in a matter of national importance. Compulsory powers are available to local authorities and to statutory bodies such as the E.S.B. for daily invocation, if needed, in such relatively minor matters as straightening a road, widening a bridge, or erecting a small transformer station. Under the Town and Regional Planning Acts various powers of compulsion are granted for a variety of matters including, if need be, 'for the preservation of views and prospects.' More interesting still is the fact that all Vocational Educational Committees have (under the 1930 Act, Sec. 28) powers of compulsory acquisition. Yet the University Colleges are to be denied such powers in their pursuit of the important work of expanding facilities for higher education.

It is to be noted that if the recommendations of the U.C.D. Architectural Advisory Board (as set out in Appendix IV, page 4, to Chapter I of the Report) be accepted in full, then for the widening of the Stillorgan Road, if the amenities of the proposed new college are to be preserved, compulsory powers may have to be invoked by the local authority to acquire private property on the east side of the road. Thus the apparent evil which the Commission is determined to avoid on sites adjacent to Earlsfort Terrace may become inevitable on sites adjacent to the Stillorgan estates.

In its final chapter (p.124) the Commission declares: 'A solution of the Dublin College's accommodation problem in the vicinity of Earlsfort Terrace could be made possible only by large-scale compulsory acquisition of valuable residential, business, and hotel premises. We could not recommend such a course.' Reading this, an outsider unacquainted with the district would be led to believe that the College is sited in the heart of a densely built-up residential and business area. One might think that large blocks of important commercial or industrial buildings were involved. But, as we show elsewhere, this is not true and, further, no hotel property need be involved.

It is quite natural to dislike the idea of disturbing people in their homes. But in the areas which we consider might be acquired immediately by U.C.D. the number of homes is minimal, and anyway many people are content to be disturbed if offered a reasonable margin above the current market value of their property. The process of acquiring property in areas adjacent to Earlsfort Terrace does not necessarily involve the legal machinery of compulsory acquisition. The ordinary processes of purchase have first to be tried. We feel that the position in regard to this question was well summed up by Mr. P. Callinan, F.R.I.C.S., when he wrote in the 'Irish Builder and Engineer': 'The College should long ago have had granted to it powers for the compulsory purchase of property, as whatever objections can be raised to the granting of such powers, they are trivial when compared with the handicap on a statutory body of being without them.' (See Appendix I).

In this particular matter the disruption to the life of the College, and the damage to its place in the community, caused by the proposed move would be so great as to far outweigh the objections to granting such powers (which

68 U.C.D. and the Future

(a) Irrespective of numbers of students in the laboratory; i.e. a class of 5 or one of 25 both count equally as 'occupied.'

(b) Assuming a 23-week (classes begin a day or two late and end a day or two early and only 22 weeks of the year are occupied); and a 44-hour week less 5 hours for lunch from Monday to Friday.

(c) Number of student places X number of hours vacant in year.

The number of student-place hours of teaching space in this building (excluding a seminar room which is used by honours students on and off all the time), available in the year is about 80,640. The number of student-place hours actually used is about 15,760, an overall 'efficiency of utilisation' of 19.5 per cent.

This is the first problem I want to put to the Conference. The present pattern of university teaching and the present design of science teaching laboratories is such that most of the accommodation is not in use most of the time. I have assumed that if a 100-place laboratory is occupied even by 5 students laboratories are large enough for the numbers of students. The problem I bring tot your attention is the large proportion of time over which the laboratories are altogether empty.

Perhaps this is an insoluable problem. Certainly universities find it impossible to solve by adjusting time tables. It might appear simple to split up large classes into small goups which do their practical work in relays, and so economise laboratory space. This is in fact what is done in the United States. A class of (say) 250 students is split into ten groups of 25, each under a separate instructor. So the laboratory does not need to hold 250: a capacity of 25 is enough, and the laboratory is occupied by one group or another for most of the time throughout the week. Of course some of the saving in laboratory space is offset by the fact that retiring rooms are needed for the ten instructors. And I have calculated--through it is very dubious arithmetic and you might not be prepared to accept some of the assumptions that the saving in capital cost invested at 4 per cent would just about pay for the salaries of the extra assistant lecturers (for that is the rank of academic teacher we would need in Britain) necessary to deal with the smaller practical classes. But this doesn't mean the solution lies that way: there are great difficulties in the way of adopting such a solution as this in Britain. For if the class is split into relays for chemistry, it has to be split into corresponding relays for physics and zoology and botany and geology: in fact for all other subjects in the faculty; and for all other subjects there would have to be corresponding increases in staff. And even if the capital were to be invested for salaries instead of being monumentalised in bricks and mortar and plumbing, there would not under present circumstances be nearly enough candidates for the posts which would have to be filled.

Appendix H

LEADING ARTICLE FROM "THE IRISH INDEPENDENT," 4th JUNE, 1959

Last Things First

In our issue of yesterday we published a summary of the recommendations of the Commission on the 'accommodation needs of the constituent colleges of the National University." It would be unjust to criticise the Members of the

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Commission on their findings. Their terms of reference held them cribbed, cabined and confined from the outset. They were permitted solely 'to inquire into the accommodation needs of the Constituent Colleges.' No more. Thus did the Minister for Education and his colleagues in the Government tie their hands behind their backs.

Of course this was ignoring the main problem. Since this State was estab-- lished almost forty years ago we have never had a comprehensive inquiry into university education in Ireland. The subject raised a multitude of problems which the members of this Commission were not allowed to examine.

One may mention only some of these problems. What are to be the future relations between the existing Irish Universities? It is desirable that the Irish universities or university colleges should be residential? If there is to be a new university building centred on Dublin should it be in the city (as is now in effect proposed) or well removed from it? Is it desirable that there should be some form of co-operation or relationship between the universities and the several professional institutions for the education and training of solicitors, barristers, veterinary surgeons, accountants, pharmacists, primary teachers and secondary teachers? Should the aim be to disperse some of the faculties or to give them autonomy rather than to attempt to retain four thousand students in one institution?

These, as we have said, are but some questions to be answered and in our view to be answered before the country embarks on an expenditure that may run to over £10,000,000 before the job is finished. Not only were the members of the Commission forbidden to consider any of these aspects of university education but they were further handicapped by the fact that even in the limited approach permitted to them they had to take cognisance of the fact that University College, Dublin, had forestalled their decision and presented them with a fait accompli by the acquisition of some hundreds of acres of land in Stillorgan.

For years this paper has endeavoured to have some light shed on these transactions at Stillorgan; but in vain. It is impossible to think that the Governing Body of University College would have entered into these vast purchases without the express sanction of the Government and with the sole object of rehousing the college there. Yet no Minister of any Government has admitted to such sanction.

We are well aware of the pressing needs of the Dublin college for more room, one might almost say bare breathing space. The present plight of University College, its staff and its students, is a discredit to the nation. If there is now to be further delay in dealing with the matter the blame rests on the present Government and on previous Governments for their failure to put first things first. In our view any serious consideration of the Commission's report should be postponed until the people decide what they want in the way of a comprehensive system of education involving not only the universities but the training of professional men whose courses are at present outside the ambit of the universities. The people should decide not alone what types of institution the country needs but where those institutions are to be located.

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Part of the accommodation trouble at U.C.D. is that students who take a course that involves the study of science have not touched the subject previously. These students should not be accepted by the university authorities until they have undergone a satisfactory course. It would hardly be fair to require from Irish students the high standard in scientific subjects that is necessary to gain admission to an English or Scottish university. To get the best results from university education involves a much higher standard of technical and secondary education, a considerable increase in scholarships to attend these schools, and far more generous provision in the matter of university scholarships than is at present available.

More technological institutes, such as those provided at Bolton Street and Kevin Street (Dublin) will have to be erected. The provision of such a college in Limerick where a demand exists for the establishment of a constituent college of the N.U.I may be an acceptable solution. The writer would suggest that any institute established at Limerick should provide for the needs of the higher management in the building industry and for the large numbers who engage in estate dealings and management without any technical qualification (at present not more than a dozen or so of the firms in the Republic who engage in this work possess staff who hold professional qualifications). The recognition of course outside the college as acceptable to it would, of course, require an alteration in the College statutes.

One proposal in the Commission's report that interests the present writer particularly is that to establish a school of geography at U.C.D. It is hoped that the proposed school will include a course in advanced land surveying similar to that at Bristol and other universities. U.C.D. also requires, as a matter of urgency, better facilities for hydraulic research, and this should be met regardless of what decision is come to on the Commission's report.

The Commission consider that, for the proposed buildings at Stillorgan Road, an open architectural competition is desirable and that the scheme should include a great hall to serve, as required, as a concert hall. It is estimated that the college would take up to ten years to build, and in the view of one member of the Commission the proposal would cost nearly £10,000,000 to build.

Appendix J

SOME OTHER VIEWS

(i) An Article from 'The Tablet' (4th July, 1958)

"To Dublin to Study" -- by Dermot F. T. Engelfield

There were moments of peacefulness, a solitary figure brushing leaves in the College Park at Trinity or the gardens of University College, quietness set in the middle of the city's bustle. The tensions of life then were lowered as they should be in a university city, and having reached this new equilibrium, mind and feeling started to work. No one could truly reveal this personality of Dublin, important as it is when assessing it as a university centre, but I was soon to find there were more tangible riches to be found there.

Very little has been written about the most satisfactory urban setting for

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universities, but if some budding Ph.D. is at this moment discussing it with his tutor he might seriously consider making a start with Dublin. What first struck me was the almost ideal balance there was between City and Universities. Beyond academic walls the busy life of an industrial centre, a port, a capital with an active parliamentary government, all linked to the world through an international airport, dealt with the ever passing problems of balancing supply and demand-- the essence of practical living. It treated the universities with quiet approval, it seldom strayed through their gates. I was reminded how unbalanced in one way are Oxford and Cambridge, where the many university buildings predominate, or how unbalanced in the other way are Manchester or London where the university is an intellectual island set in a sea of commerce. But in Dublin, if at Trinity, one led a fully residential life, and even if living in hostels or rooms students were accepted as part of the life of the city without being allowed to push the citizens off the pavements. There were no self-conscious students' quarters; the whole city was there to enrich one's background. Let me turn then to the more practical advantages of Dublin a university city.

There were the theatres which enlivened the study of drama, especially that of the eighteenth century. The tradition of the 'little theatres' kept one abreast of modern movements in a way that only London could surpass in Britain. Musical life too was rich, above all for those who enjoyed choral music, and there were visiting groups, such as the Hamburg State Opera, whose performance of Mozart were, at the time, superior to anything heard in Britain since before the war. The resident symphony orchestra could be visited twice a week with the smallest of formalities, and there were a dozen or more first-rate chamber recitals and song recitals during the winter months. There was a National Gallery which was a very good introduction to the history of painting, being one of the best balanced of the smaller European collections and unusually strong in the Dutch and English schools. Public lectures by eminent speakers were promoted by the Royal Dublin Society and other bodies, and these were advertised in the Press and were open to the public. This cross-fertilisation was carried to a high degree. If one ideal for a university setting is to have a small society of students living in beneficial contact with a large urban society, then Dublin went a long way towards succeeding. Finally, though this does not apply to Dublin alone, for anyone from Britain to live outside England for a few years and to look at her from a bastion of independence was really quite an education in itself.

As a small capital with a relatively large number of students, Dublin offers a wholeness in its university life that few centres can rival.

(ii) Professor Stanford's Views

In the course of a eulogy of Trinity College which appears in the 'Trinity Handbook--1959' Senator Professor Stanford wrote the following:--

'No other ancient, residential university in Ireland or Great Britain lies in the heart of a sovereign metropolis, within a few minutes' walk of the parliament, the government departments, the courts of justice, and all the main nerve-centres of an independent state. Inside the walls of the College we have a precinct dedicated to learning and teaching; but even the most dedicated learner and even the most absorbed teacher must