The brand new Library building at St. Patrick’s College, Drumcondra, Dublin, Ireland has opened its doors, in advance of a merger between two leading Irish colleges.
St Patrick’s College, is a teacher’s training college with strong ties to the Catholic Church dating back to 1875. With its forthcoming merger with Dublin City University, the college has stepped out from behind its iconic gates and walled perimeter to engage with the wider world. From the 2015 intake of students onward, St Patrick’s College will become a campus of Dublin City University. Currently St Patrick’s College has 2,600 students and this number will increase significantly to around 4,000 following the merger.
The new library, part of a €50 million redevelopment, is a symbol of the college’s transformation. the library spans four floors and features over 700 bays of Bruynzeel Library shelving supplied by Storage Systems to house its 200,000 books.
The design of the library embraces the modern world with room for digital ‘contemplation pods’ as well as more traditional real-world space for students to congregate and work collaboratively. “The beauty of the library is it will engage with the city. It’s a flagship project … This will be a beacon of international significance,” Professor Daire Keogh, President of St Patrick’s College explained to us.
The dramatic interior, dappled with coloured light from stained-glass windows, has been kitted out with Sysco® library shelving in RAL 7026 Graphite Grey throughout. In addition, Compactus® mobile shelving has been installed in an environmentally controlled archive room to house the College’s special collection of valuable books.
