On Monday 16th July last, the culmination of 18 months construction saw the opening of the RCSI Smurfit Building, Education and Research Centre Phase II Extension. The Estate and Support Services Department welcomed our colleagues from RCSI, Beaumont and farther afield to the new Bean Lab café for a coffee morning to mark the occasion.
The project received planning permission in September 2016 with construction works commencing in January 2017. The new building spans 2,600sqm over three floors and is a significant extension and redevelopment of the original Smurfit Building which was completed in 2000. The ground floor provides new multi-purpose tutorial rooms which can be adjusted to suit class size and host exams and other events. The first floor provides faculty offices, open plan workstations for lecturers and meeting spaces while the second floor is dedicated to an expansive multi-purpose laboratory with associated support rooms and write up spaces. The three floors are vertically linked by a feature stairs presented in a large, full height atrium to provide abundant natural light and a feeling of space in the new building, there are link bridges at first and second floors for circulation. A key element of the project brief was to maximise the opportunities for student break out, relaxation and collaboration spaces, to deliver on this requirement a variety of seating areas have been provided throughout the building.
In order to successfully link the existing building to the extension a new student concourse has been provided from the main reception to the atrium. The new Bean Lab Café is located here, along with a self-service kitchen, and mixture of seating areas, 145 seats in total.
We would like to sincerely thank our colleagues, especially those based in Beaumont for their support and patience during the project. We would also like to thank our design team, especially MDO Architects and our contractor, Stewart Construction Ltd. for their commitment to the project.
We are also very excited to welcome our new and returning Beaumont based students in September and trust they will enjoy the new space!
RCSI Estate and Support Services
August 2018
RCSI team Estate and Support Services team SSG and Smurfit – front- Fergus Durcan, Colm Murray, Ronan Baxter, Collette Power, Ken Gormley, Yvette Moffatt and Bryan Sheils, back row Pat Byrne and Brian Casey. (missing from the picture is Brian Lacken)
