university of limerick

Giant Flag Poles

They are situated at the main entrance and were funded by the University’s own Foundation. They look like the masts of a sailing ship and I believe they were erected by an English company called Spencer Rigging who seem to specialise in sailing?

They also got a coat of varnish this summer as the University has quite a few structures now with wooden facades which blend in well with its landscaped surroundings.

Irish Chamber Orchestra to move to €3m campus studio

By Jimmy Woulfe, Irish Examiner

THE Irish Chamber Orchestra (ICO) based at the University of Limerick is preparing to move into a new €3.4 million studio building, on campus, later this month.

Since the orchestra’s relocation to Limerick in 1995, it has been orchestra-in-residence at the university.

A spokesperson said: “Over this time it became clear that a dedicated building with rehearsal /recording studio and office space for the orchestra’s administration would offer the ICO freedom and flexibility to develop not only its artistic policy but its education and
outreach activities”

A partnership with UL has now allowed the orchestra realise its dream.

With financial support from the Department of Arts, UL, Limerick City and County Councils and other private donations the ICO work commenced last year on its new home.

The spokesperson said: “The new studio provides rehearsal and recording facilities for the orchestra and allows it to expand its education remit, enabling schoolchildren and other members of the outreach community to come and work with the orchestra on an ongoing basis.

“It is a unique resource for orchestra, campus and the wider community.”

At the hub is a double-height 300-square-metre rehearsal studio with soloist and conductor rehearsal rooms, instrument store room, musicians’ common room and, upstairs, spacious office accommodation for the ICO’s administrative team.

Buildings and Estates

UL have just upgraded their site above, here new link.

Campus map updated, here link.

Alas links to images from previous posts have also changed. 😡

Boathouse Pedestrian Bridge IWMC Schumann Buildings Kemmy Business School ICO Hall

Orchestral manoeuvres on the campus

The funding and building of the Irish Chamber Orchestra’s new home in Limerick is a rare example of a plan carried out in collective harmony, reports Arminta Wallace

WE DON’T HEAR many good-news stories in these days of doom and gloom; but today’s official opening of the Irish Chamber Orchestra’s new building, on the campus of the University of Limerick (UL), is putting smiles on lots of faces.

Designed by Project Architects in collaboration with specialist acousticians AWN Consulting, the gleaming new block on the college’s north campus incorporates a state-of-the-art rehearsal room, an instrument storeroom and a musicians’ common room as well as office accommodation for the orchestra’s administrative team.

“It became obvious to me about five years ago that we needed to develop our own home,” says the ICO’s chief executive, John Kelly, one of the driving forces behind the project. “When the orchestra relocated to UL in 1995, I was actually the guy who relocated. There wasn’t anybody else.” Once established within the university, however, the ICO quickly began to grow. “We brought Fionnuala Hunt on board, we contracted 13 players, and I hired two other people to work . . . in the office.”

As the university itself developed, rehearsal space became harder to find. “At first we rehearsed in the Bourn Vincent Gallery. But it was being developed as an art gallery, and as more exhibitions were hung it became less and less possible for us to rehearse there. We also shared space with the Irish world academy of music and dance, but as their programmes grew it became more difficult to access that space, too. The primary function of the university is, after all, education. When we found ourselves having to rehearse off-campus in Killaloe, I realised that we were going to have to build our own space.”

To hear Kelly tell the story of the new building, you’d think that getting a €3.5 million project out of cloud cuckoo land and into the real world is something of a breeze. It began with an approach to UL’s vice-president for physical development, John O’Connor. As a result of this conversation the university gifted a site to the orchestra – which, Kelly says, was even more generous than it sounds.

“The site is in the context of a major development of student residencies on campus – a 500-bed complex – so it meant that things like sewerage, pipes, all of that, was already in place. We were, in effect, given a fully serviced site.” With the support of the ICO board, especially its deputy chair, Ed Walsh – a former president of UL and a man who has a reputation for putting ideas into action – Kelly sought government approval for a public-private partnership. “The Department of Arts, Sports and Tourism responded very quickly,” he says. “They saw the opportunity to build a 900sq m home for the ICO for a relatively small amount of money.

So they committed 50 per cent. Limerick city and county put in €50,000 each. We capitalised some rent from the university, which gave us another slice of funding, and we raised €800,000 from private donors.
“Everything just flowed. Everything fell into place,” Kelly says. “But then, this was a good deal for the government. It was a good deal for the ICO. It was a good deal for the University of Limerick. It was a good deal for Limerick.”

It was also a matter of good timing, though, surely? Who would try to get a project such as this off the ground in the current climate?

“Well, you know, when I first mooted this idea I was told that it wouldn’t happen,” says Kelly. “As a matter of fact I was told I’d never get the funding for the orchestra itself, never mind the building. But you don’t let circumstances dictate where you’re going in life. You have a vision, and you get on with it.”

The state-of-the-art rehearsal room, which seats up to 200.

THE AIM OF the ICO has always been, he says, to develop an ensemble that could compete with the best chamber orchestras in the world. “What we’ve really done here from the beginning is facilitate talent – and now we can go on doing that. We have much more freedom to rehearse, to develop education and outreach programmes. We have our own recording facility. We have a music library.”

Having all the admin staff in one place will also, he hopes, make the orchestra’s life easier. “Now we’re all together we can function as a team. And when the orchestra is rehearsing downstairs, we’re immediately accessible to them.” Already, he says, the new environment is prompting members of the orchestra to suggest new musical initiatives. “Although it’s not primarily designed as a performance space, the rehearsal room can hold – with the orchestra – about 180 to 200 people. Various chamber music series will definitely . . . develop – and it’s also a place where we could do some experimental, cutting-edge contemporary work.”

So, when Minister for Arts, Sports and Tourism Martin Cullen cuts the ribbon on the new building today, it will be the dawn of a new era for the ICO. The new building gives the orchestra – according to Kelly – a huge advantage over other chamber orchestras of a similar size. “I don’t know of any chamber orchestra that owns its own studio and office complex,” he says. “We’re unique in that context. It’s like we’re not waiting on the bus any more. We have our own transport here now.”

© 2008 The Irish Times

@Tuborg wrote:

This is going to be built under a Public Private Partnership so its one of those design, build, finance and operate agreements. The project was given the go-ahead by the government late last year and the tendering process was said to have begun straight away.

There was some preliminary works talking place on the site towards the end of last term (May) so I presume the start of construction cant be too far away, possibly September.

Any progress on this, im assuming that all the recent digging and laying of pipes around the library is unrelated?

Here are some stats on the University….hope this helps.
UL has 11,000 students and 1,300 staff. There are 5 residential villages on campus offering 2,400 rooms. The University Campus extends to over 132 hectares (327 acres) with a total built space of 190,379 square metres (2.05 million square feet) across 27 buildings. As of January 2009, there are 2107 parking spaces provided on the South Bank and 200 on the North Bank.

more student accomodation, Was that an extension to capavilla student village or a new one all together?

I’m in the languages building a few times a week, If I remember to take a few pics ill put them up.

Work to begin on University of Limerick Medical School (Limerick Leader)

CONSTRUCTION work on UL’s Medical School will begin this year, Minister for Education Batt O’Keeffe confirmed this morning.
Making the announcement, Minister O’Keeffe said: ‘Building work is expected to get under way shortly on the new multi-million euro 4,000sq/m project.”

It is expected that the project will generate about 150 construction jobs.

“The new medical school, which will accommodate up to 288 graduate students, will have dedicated laboratories, facilities and equipment located in the university’s “health education village” where physical resources can be shared.

“UL is now tendering for a contractor to build the project and construction is expected to be finished by the end of next year.

“UL’s medical school has been operating since 2007 and this new building will, for the first time, provide dedicated facilities for graduates to train in medicine on the campus.

“The medical school, which last year attracted 50 full-time graduate students for the four-year programme, will target innovative learning and provide space and courses for general practitioner training.

“The school is expected to offer new post-graduate research programmes when it’s fully operational,” said Minister O’Keeffe.

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Jimg, had Limerick been successful in the 1850’s in its application for siting one of the new Queen’s Colleges in the city then I would agree the area around the train station would have been ideal. It would have completed / complemented the Pery Square / Peoples park area very well.

When NIHE was set up in 1972 the option of setting up around the train station was long gone. In fact the city centre had no large enough tracts of land available to it then. The large brown field sites of Charlottes Quay, the Irishtown and the Englishtown only became available in the late 1980’s.

I remember reading that the Department of Education had favoured another site, the former Mungret College for the new NIHE, but Ed Walsh had seen Plassey on the banks of the Shannon and built his American vision of a university there. The emphasis is how to integrate both of them.