development of a campus for dit at...

Development of a Campus for DIT at Grangegorman

Draft January 25TH 2008


Institute Strategic Brief

(Subject to on-going update)

Academic Provision

Volume III

Introduction

Please note that Volume III of the DIT Strategic Brief for masterplanning of the new campus at Grangegorman contains submissions from each of the Institutes six faculties. These submissions provide guidance as to the vision and requirements identified by each Faculty for the new campus. These submissions provide detailed information with respect to the academic needs of each Faculty.

In Volume I of the Strategic Brief the overall space requirements (Page 23) for the New Campus have been identified. These figures represent the overall envelope and context for the development. Volume III requirements should be read within the context of Volume I.

Volume III is subject to ongoing revision and refinement and will have other iterations in the future.


Institute Strategic Brief

Table of Contents

VOLUME III

ACADEMIC PROVISION WITHIN THE INSTITUTE

Information relating to each faculty of the Institute

Faculty of Applied Arts

Faculty of the Built Environment

Faculty of Business

Faculty of Engineering

Faculty of Science

Faculty of Tourism and Food

DRAFT v1.3

DIT Faculty of Applied Arts:

Grangegorman Strategic Brief

Prepared on behalf of Prof Ellen Hazelkorn and Dr Brid Grant

November 2007

DRAFT v1.3

Contents

page

1.0 Introduction

2

2.0 Methodology

6

3.0

Faculty requirements

7

4.0 Site

requirements

10

5.0 Design

requirements

12

6.0 Space

requirements

22

Appendix 1

Stakeholders consulted

26

Appendix 2

Projected student numbers

27

Appendix 3

Space budgets

28

464 FoAA Strategic Brief, October 2007

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DRAFT v1.3

1.0 Introduction

1.1

Grangegorman background

The Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT) has been part of Dublins educational

and cultural landscape for 120 years; the institute is spread across 26 different

sites located throughout the city. DIT is negotiating the development of the

Grangegorman site, where it intends to amalgamate all its academic activities

and facilities. DIT prepared an Outline Strategic Brief for the development of the

campus1 and after an international architectural competition, which attracted 28

consortia, DIT has recently appointed the masterplanners for the site. Key dates

for the Grangegorman project are:

Autumn 07 Spring 08

Masterplanning phase

Spring 08 Autumn 08

Building design phase

Autumn 08

Consultation and adoption of design

Winter 08

Site works commence

2011

Phased completion

2012

Students on campus

The move to Grangegorman presents enormous opportunities for DIT and its six

faculties. To maximise the opportunities, the Faculty of Applied Arts (FoAA)

submitted a document2 to the Campus Planning team early in the development

process. The document outlined FoAAs aspirations and expectations for the new

campus. To inform the masterplanning phase of the project, the Faculty decided

to prepare a more detailed brief which builds upon its previous submission,

describes new developments within the Faculty, captures its current thinking and

vision, and identifies its outline space requirements.

1.2

The Faculty of Applied Arts

The FoAA currently has 5,034 students, of which 2,862 (57%) are part-time or

apprentices, and 406 staff, of which 196 (45%) are part-time. The Facultys

offering in educational and research programmes is hugely diverse and quite

unique. The Faculty consists of five individual Schools:

Conservatory of Music and Drama

Department of Keyboard Studies

Department of Orchestral Studies

Department of Vocal Opera and Drama

Department of Academic Studies

1 Dublin Institute of Technology. Development of a Campus for DIT at Grangegorman,

Volume 1 Strategic Brief. January 2007.

2 Faculty of Applied Arts. Submission. July 2005.


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DRAFT v1.3

School of Art, Design and Printing

Department of Fine Art

Department of Design

School of Languages

School of Media

Department of Journalism

Department of Creative Media

School of Social Science and Law

Department of Social Science

Department of Law

The Faculty also hosts a group of seven Research Centres (Knowledge

Clusters) which capitalise on common themes and synergies between Schools:

Centre for Social and Educational Research

Digital Media Centre

Centre for Transcultural Research and Media Practice

Media and Arts Production Unit

Music Technology Centre

Photography and Digital Imaging Studio

Drawing Lab

The Schools (and Centres) are currently located in different buildings widely

spread throughout the city (see Figure 1).


6

7

5

4

3

2

1. Rathmines Road

2. Kevin Street

3. Aungier Street

4. Chatham Row

5. Temple Bar

1

6. Mountjoy Square

7. Portland Row

Figure 1 Locations of the Schools within the Faculty of Applied Arts


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DRAFT v1.3

The segregation and travel distances make interaction, collaborative

programmes/research, and even basic administration difficult to achieve within

the Faculty. There are clear advantages to co-locating the Schools onto one site.

Consolidation of DIT onto one site will also improve the opportunity for

collaboration between FoAAs Schools and those in other faculties, for example

Architecture, Computing and Management.

1.3

Content and next steps

The FoAA invited AMA Alexi Marmot Associates to help to define its needs and

prepare an outline Strategic Brief for the Grangegorman masterplanning team,

and later for the design team. This document builds upon the previous briefing

conducted by the FoAA, but nevertheless it can be developed to include more

detailed information as the masterplan for the campus progresses and a specific

location for FoAA is identified. The brief should also be developed alongside

similar documents from other faculties, to ensure that the development of the

masterplan is compatible with the current and future needs of DIT and other

activities located on the site.

This outline Strategic Brief considers:

the Faculty of Applied Arts vision in the context of the overall vision for DIT,

integration of space and the broad nature of the building(s) required,

uses and attributes of key spaces,

space requirements in relation to the space available,

future work required as the brief is developed.

The consultation conducted to produce this brief is only the start of the design

process. It is important to be aware that the material presented here must be built

on over time by continuing a more detailed examination and understanding of

how spaces are used now and what changes can be expected and fostered in

future. All concerned must be aware of the ideas that are behind this brief, and

have appropriate input into the detail as it is developed. This will enable collective

buy-in to the ideas expressed and the inevitable compromises required and

achieved, so that the new building can offer the FoAA the space it needs to

prosper and evolve.


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DRAFT v1.3

Some clearly identified next steps are:

appoint a group to oversee the further development of the Brief and work with

the masterplanners and eventually with the building designers,

undertake utilisation studies to collect information on the current space use in

order to more accurately understand future space needs,

circulate questionnaires to staff and students to identify any needs or issues

hitherto unidentified and to ensure buy-in to the ongoing project development,

evaluate the masterplan as it develops to ensure compatibility with the

Facultys goals,

review the selection criteria for the design team to ensure that high quality

design is prominent on the agenda, and that the team is selected with whom a

good dialogue can be maintained as the Brief is developed.


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DRAFT v1.3

2.0 Methodology

To complete this briefing document, AMA has drawn on its extensive experience

and knowledge of educational spaces, in particular performance and arts

faculties. AMAs Workware toolkit was adapted to the specific needs of the FOAA

and the following methods were employed:

Expert walkthrough Tour of the spaces currently occupied by the FoAA in

eight buildings; the site visits included photographic the spaces, identifying

them on space planes and noting their current use;

Space audit The Institutes space schedule and space plans were used to

determine the amount of space and facilities currently available, and were

analysed against published benchmarks;

Interviews Meetings with the Faculty Head, Heads of School, Department

and Centre to discuss: their vision for the new campus, current and future

teaching styles, student numbers, room types, key issues and concerns, IT

and AV, location needs, required facilities including specialist areas, good

examples/precedents, and further ideas;

Space requirements schedule A pro-forma worksheet sent to the Heads of

School used to determine the type and amount of space required, and identify

common areas; the size of rooms was estimated using published metrics, best

practice reference sites, or based on that currently provided;

Workshops With the Heads of School and Centres covering: the vision,

examples of other applied arts faculties, a review of the briefing process, the

building shape, key issues, allocated space, required space and space

busters; a second workshop was held to confirm the space requirements.

Feedback session With the Department Heads to discuss the main

outcome of the workshop and gain initial feedback on the recommendations;

The staff consulted through interviews and workshops are listed in Appendix 1.

In addition to the above methods, a review and commentary was made of the

previous outline briefs, including the amount of space allocated to the FoAA. An

intranet based literature review was also conducted to explore innovative

methods that have been used in other universities to save space, with a focus on

performance spaces.


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DRAFT v1.3

3.0 Faculty

requirements

3.1

Vision and objectives

The following components of a vision have been distilled from the FoAAs 2005

document and interviews with key staff. The faculty wishes to:

Create a stimulating learning environment,

Encourage development of interdisciplinary and modular pedagogy,

Promote inter-departmental collaboration, education and research,

Foster a dynamic relationship between teaching, creative and professional

practice, research and knowledge transfer,

Be flexible to meet future learning needs,

Play a role as a cultural/educational institution interfacing with community,

Be recognised as leading educational institution,

Attract undergraduate students (and researchers),

Offer a world-class facility,

Produce highest quality students,

Support adjacencies and consolidate facilities.

The FoAAs aims, identified above, are in line with those identified in the

overarching DIT Strategic Brief, stated below:

Innovative delivery of learning and research,

Educationally alive learning environment,

Visible learning and research activities,

Environmentally sustainable campus,

Integration between campus and surrounding city,

Good mix of quality educational, social and recreational facilities,

Density that facilitates collaboration between faculties,

Faculty/discipline identity within overall DIT identity,

Focus on building strong alliance with industry,

Flexible building design to promote intellectual interaction,

Use of balance space (corridors, stairways) as social learning spaces,

Technology as a driver in learning, research and administration,

Research facilities that reflect generation and application of knowledge,

Flexible layout that will accommodate future expansion.


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DRAFT v1.3

The visions put forward by the DIT and the FoAA share many features and seek

similar overall goals. However, there are some aspects that will need special

consideration, as outlined below:

Provide a plan and buildings that promotes inter-departmental collaboration

(FoAA) at a density that facilitates collaboration between faculties (DIT) but

takes account of:

the special characteristics of the Conservatory of Music and Drama which

may generate sound disturbance and need sound isolation,

the very different natural and established links for different parts of FoAA

with other parts of DIT and with the community;

Delivering a faculty/discipline identity within overall DIT identity (DIT)

requires particular care in FoAA which is composed of five schools with quite

different characteristics and established identities which they wish to retain;

As the masterplan diagram is developed, the location of the Research Centres

and the way their relationship with academic space may develop over time

must be established. The FoAA believe that it is essential that the seven

Research Centres and specialist units currently within the faculty are located

close to the teaching and administrative spaces to which they relate.

As a starting point the new building should be designed to inspire and support the

users, be accessible, sustainable, easy to manage and maintain, exploiting

orientation, views and natural light to the full and contributing to a creative

learning, teaching and research environment. It is important to test planning and

design concepts against the overall DIT and the FoAA objectives on a regular

basis during the design process and ensure that any shifts in these objectives,

that may take place over time, are agreed by those concerned.


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DRAFT v1.3

3.2

Student and staff numbers

The FoAA currently has 406 total staff but predicts that, by filling vacancies, it will

have 440 total staff by the time of the move to Grangegorman. Some 196 of the

staff are part-time, and if part-time staff are counted as one-third (0.33) this

equates to 309 FTE (Full Time Equivalent) staff. At this point, it is not anticipated

that the staff numbers will significantly change beyond those predicted in Table1.

Not all of the staff will require an office, particularly the part-time staff who will hot-

desk in touchdown areas. Most of the staff who are allocated an office will share it

with another colleague, and the space budget is based on rolling out 2-person 18

m2 offices for the majority of staff.

Head of

Head of

Senior

Pro-Rata Part-time

Demon-

Admin

Technical

Other

Total

Total

School

School

Dept

Lecturer

Lecturer

Staff

staff

strators

Staff

Staff

Support

Staff

FTE

95

Art, Design & Printing

1

3

3

51

9

21

0

2

4

1

75

Music & Drama

1

4

4

54

35

26

1

3

2

1

131

90

Languages

1

2

2

23

10

33

0

2

1

0

74

45

M

e

d

i

a

12685 21

2

1

2 41

51

62

79

Social Sciences & Law

1

2

2

26

10

35

0

2

1

0

49

Total

5

13

17

182

69

127

2

11

11

3

440

309

Table 1 Projected FoAA staff numbers

Table 2 shows a summary of the projected student numbers within the FoAA for

all academic years up until the 2010/11. The student numbers are anticipated to

be in the region of 5,400, approximately 7% higher then the current figures.

Student

Actual

Approx

Projected

Projected

Projected

School

Type

2006/07

2007/08

2008/09

2009/10

2010/11

Student numbers

539

553

592

593

600

Art, Design and Printing

Student FTE

506

520

562

563

570

Student numbers

970

885

928

919

921

Social Sciences and Law

Student FTE

727

650

673

664

666

Student numbers

536

541

678

714

711

Media

Student FTE

501

524

654

690

687

Student numbers

2,004

2,005

2,037

2,041

2,050

Music and Drama

Student FTE

561

565

597

601

610

Student numbers

985

1,043

1,113

1,157

1,119

Languages

Student FTE

567

620

690

734

696

Student numbers

5,034

5,027

5,348

5,424

5,401


Student FTE

2,862

2,879

3,176

3,252

3,229

Table 2 FoAA student numbers

A high proportion of the student numbers are part-time, particularly in the

Conservatory of Music and Drama and School of Social Sciences and Law. Re-

calculating the student numbers, counting the majority of part-time students as

0.4 and those in Music and Drama as 0.2 (based on HEFCE and PCFC

guidance3)4, equates to approximately 3,200 FTE students. On this basis, the

range of FTE student numbers across the five schools (570 to 696) is closer than

the range of enrolled student numbers (600 to 2,050). Student numbers are

provided in more detail in Appendix 2.

3 HEFCE. Funding Higher Education in England: How HEFCE Allocates Its Funds. 2003.

4 PCFC. Guidance on Estate Management. May 1990.


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DRAFT v1.3

4.0 Site

requirements

4.1 Adjacencies

and

location

The DIT Strategic Brief1 for the masterplan of the new Gragegorman campus

includes a schematic diagram (Figure 2) which highlights the required

adjacencies between the faculties and facilities. The brief highlights that

buildings with significant public access, such as performance venues, should be

conveniently located close to main entry points and public transportation stops.

Furthermore, the diagram indicates that the performance and exhibition space,

required by FoAA, would be located on one edge of the campus. This potentially

good physical connection to the community will provide important opportunities

for musical performances and art and media shows open to the public.

Figure 2 Schematic of required adjacencies at Grangegorman

The Strategic brief also notes that language facilities will be brought together in a

dedicated Language Centre, acknowledging that the School of Languages is

actively involved with the learning needs of students across the whole institute.

The Language Centre may form part of the central Library but it will also need to

be conveniently located for the FoAA.

There are other important adjacencies for the School of Social Science and Law.

The Department of Law has links with legal practices in the city and many of the

practitioners studying law at DIT take their courses after work. The Department of

Social Sciences requires an Early Learning Centre on the site, which will support

training in nursery care and early years education.

Clearly adjacencies exist between the departments within the faculty. There are

also many potential adjacencies between departments in different faculties. For

example, the Department of Design runs courses which require model making

facilities, and these could be shared with the School of Architecture. The

Department of Creative Media is already investigating new techniques for building

simulations and there may be other links with the School of Architecture. There

are also potential technical links between Media and Computer Science, and with

other departments interested in using new media for dissemination and

promotion.


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DRAFT v1.3

4.2 Building

arrangement

The space provided for the Faculty of Applied Arts must acknowledge the

interdependence of all the schools and their departments yet ensure that

separate identities are not submerged. The facility must provide spaces that allow

each school to link smoothly to its faculty, institute and community contacts, and

to benefit from association with the research and knowledge centres. Figure 3

indicates the broad functional adjacencies for the Faculty of Applied Arts.

Public Access

Outdoor

Outdoor

Performance

Performance

or Opera

or Opera

Performance

Performance

Early

Early

Space

Space

Learning

Learning

Exhibition

Exhibition

Centre

Centre

Space

Space

Language

Language

Centre

Centre

Work-

Work-

shops

shops

Faculty

Faculty

Hub/Entrance

Hub/Entrance

Library

Library

Student Access

Figure 3 Adjacencies for the key facilities within the FoAA

The FoAA require its faculty facilities to have a form that allows identifiable routes

to the front door of its five schools but also exploits a shared gathering hub and

shared access to spaces that are needed and can be used by the whole faculty.

It is not envisaged that separate buildings will be required for the facultys five

schools. Most buildings on the new campus will be several stories high so

separate floors in a single structure may be broadly designated to identify the

different schools. However, it must be appreciated that space requirements for

school-specific areas are unlikely to remain the same over time and thus stay on

the same floor or even match floor sizes at the outset.

There will be some distinct space for the schools that needs specialised

accommodation, such as studios, workshops and display spaces for the design

and media subjects, and practice and performance spaces for the music and

drama functions. Some of these spaces may need to be at or near ground level

and with good pedestrian and vehicle access, for heavy or large items to be

delivered and accommodated and if large crowds will be present for

performances or exhibitions. Some of the facilities will also require two-story

spaces, e.g. the performance areas. The more noisy and messy spaces will need

a degree of separation from the quiet and clean ones.

It may not be practical for the specialist spaces to form part of a single faculty

building. For example, the art workshops could be industrial grade space located

near to the school. The Early Learning Centre needs its own discrete entrance,

for dropping off children, but this could be accommodated within a faculty building

at ground level. The performance spaces have specific acoustical requirements.


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Music & Drama

Music & Drama

DRAFT v1.3

5.0 Design

requirements

5.1

Flexible and multi-functional spaces

As in all modern learning environments, the classroom layout, furniture and

technology need to be designed to allow the space to be adapted to support a

range of teaching styles. The current design trend is to use flat rooms with

moveable and stackable furniture and some universities are introducing flexible

partitioning to allow the size and level of enclosure of the spaces to be altered

(Figure 4). Such a design means that the classroom can simultaneously facilitate

more than one activity. Flexibility is also dependent on the level of embedded

technology. A selection of larger raked teaching rooms will also be required, but it

is understood that such facilities will be provided as a shared DIT wide facility.

Figure 4 Example of a flexible classroom

As far as possible studios and workshops should be sized, serviced and located

to be able to accommodate various different types of activity sequentially if not

simultaneously. The number of students that can be based in these will depend

upon the extent to which individual spaces and pieces of equipment within each

area are shared. The practice, for example, of giving an art or design student a

small space of their own in a studio for a term or semester is current but may

evolve into a new pattern over time. For example, the Department of Design is

now converting its studios to spaces which contain a variety of areas supporting

different functions, such as a crit area, layout space, informal meeting area and

desks. Such studios are shared by a number of students, where they have

swapped their allocated desk for a range of spaces. Such changes in use will

have implications for the studio design, particularly for access and storage.

The extent to which workshops will be able to serve a range of activities is, in

part, a management and staffing issue. It will have implications for the location of

technicians work areas and stores, and the type of servicing and equipment

proposed for the different functions. The use of mobile equipment will allow more

flexibility but may require a different level of servicing and possibly lead to the

need for more secure storage.


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DRAFT v1.3

Practice, rehearsal and performance spaces need to be designed with technical

requirements in mind and located to serve an audience as well as provide a

learning function for students. The audience for some events may be internal, but

possibly faculty or institute wide as well as within the school, but other events

may draw on an external audience, such as the local community or Dublin as a

whole.

The users, owners and managers of spaces will vary depending on the space

type. The attached space budgets (Appendix 3) indicate the range of spaces

currently requested by the FoAA, indicating function, capacity and who will be the

users. Some spaces will be shared between the entire FoAA such as meeting

spaces and classrooms, whereas others will be assigned to a particular school

but could, even in the short term, be used by a different school or become

shared. Other spaces, such as heavily equipped workshops, or music practice

rooms, will be department specific and not easily changed or shared, especially in

the short term. The key is to build in the flexibility and adaptability of spaces to

cover arrange of basic uses over time.

To maximise the utilisation of space, the space budget identifies rooms which

could be used for multiple functions or readily adapted for alternative uses. It may

not always be appropriate to simply provide flat rooms with flexible furniture.

However, advances in technology, could be adopted to increase the multi-

functionality of the larger performance spaces. Such technologies include:

concertinaed raked seating, adjustable staging (heights and size) and digital

technology which changes the acoustic properties of spaces.

Some spaces will be provided by the Institute and bookable by members of

FoAA, especially the large teaching spaces and lecture halls. In contrast,

performance and exhibition spaces, provided for the FoAA departments will

attract outside audiences and may be used by outside performers or artists from

the institute or wider community.

5.3

Lessons learned universities and performance spaces

An intranet based literature review was conducted to update AMAs knowledge of

innovative methods used at other universities to provide flexible and

multifunctional spaces, and to pay particular attention to performance areas.

Multifunctional spaces The review revealed a number of concert halls

which are used for a mixture of uses. For example, lecture theatre, cinema

and chamber music (e.g. Emmanuel College Cambridge) or space for

concerts, dance, drama and other events (e.g. Snape Maltings, Perth Concert

Hall, and The Platform) and concert halls used for rehearsals, lectures,

dinners and conferences (e.g. Royal College of Music);

Moveable seating Telescopic raked seating has been in use in universities

for some time (Figure 5), other performance settings are using hovercraft

seating to easily clear the floor area or create a range of different seating

arrangements (e.g. The Bryncheiniog Theatre), or alternatively floor lifts and

movable seating wagons that provide both raked seating and a large-scale flat

floor (Perth Concert Hall);


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Figure

5 Examples of moveable seating

Moveable partitions Some concert halls can change their partition walls to

accommodate a variety of seating and performance layouts and sizes (e.g.

The Platform);

Moveable flooring The Riverfront, for example, uses a mmultifunctional

auditorium for concerts and musical shows with a proscenium stage and fly

tower with adaptable orchestra pit/forestage lift;

Central recording suite Some universities are locating all their recording

technology centrally and linking is to all auditoria, rehearsal and practice

spaces (e.g. The Royal College of Music);

Digital sound modification A recent advancement is the use of technology

to monitor and digitally alter the quality of sound and reverberation time within

an auditorium so that it can be used for music, speech and song (e.g.

Zellerbach Hall, Berkley University and Perth Concert Hall); such systems

include those developed: Meyer Sound Constellation, Electroacoustic

Architecture, and Yamaha Active Field Control System;

Outdoor/indoor performance space There are many examples of

dedicated outdoor performance spaces (e.g. Regents Park and The Minack),

there are also examples of open spaces being used to create amphitheatre

style public seating areas (e.g. The Scoop at GLA, Paddington Central and

Scottish Parliament), but of more interest is the design of internal spaces that

open up to the outside to accommodate larger audiences (e.g. University of

California and Claire Trevor School of the Arts), see Figure 6.

Figure 6 Outdoor/indoor performance spaces


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5.3

Technical features and room data sheets

The IT provision should be designed to meet foreseeable future teaching learning

patterns. As in all modern learning environments, the classrooms and lecture

theatres need to be fully kitted out for seamless connectivity (to internet and

intranet) and electronic display. All classrooms will be equipped with AV facilities

including ceiling mounted projectors, and some will have plasma screens that can

be linked to lectures being given in neighbouring classrooms, to provide overflow

space when very large groups are anticipated. Such technology will support the

flexible use of spaces. There should also be links between classrooms and

screens in the foyer/hub area.

It is also assumed that wireless connectivity will be made available to the majority

of spaces at the new DIT campus. The network will cover formal teaching spaces

and social spaces to support continuous and social learning.

In addition, many of the specialist spaces within the FoAA will need a higher level

of servicing and of information technology capability. For example, the facultys

various departments look forward to fully-integrated and digitised spaces for the

free flow of music, art, media, sound and images to be produced in one location

and recorded, exhibited or performed in another area as desired. The capacity of

such systems and the resulting transmission speeds will need to be researched.

If, as seems likely, these facilities can only be available for some of the spaces

then prioritisation will need to be agreed between different user groups.

It is assumed that the standard teaching spaces will have the following basic

features:

accessible but secure,

well lit, preferably with daylight,

well ventilated and thermally comfortable,

minimal noise intrusion and transference,

robust finishes that can be easily maintained,

standard finished floor to ceiling height of 2.7 to 3.0 m,

hardwired data and power to all rooms.

The key spaces are briefly described in the next section but detailed room data

sheets for all spaces, which address the technical requirements, will need to be

developed for all spaces as part of the design brief. The data sheets will need to

cover, location, space, services and design, and at minimum state the following

requirements:

function,

size and number of users (e.g. seat count),

furniture and equipment,

location in relation to faculty and university facilities,

location in relation to public access,


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DRAFT v1.3

location with respect to delivery and waste,

size and number of users for the space,

structural load,

ceiling height,

natural and artificial lighting, and blackout requirements,

sound insulation and control,

aesthetic and ambience,

power and data,

water, drainage, gases, extraction and air handling,

other non-standard requirements.

5.4

Description of key spaces

A preliminary assessment of the important characteristics of the general spaces,

required across the faculty, is outlined below.

Offices The Head of Faculty, Heads of School and Heads of Department

require single offices. In general, the full-time academic staff will share a two-

person office, whereas part-time academics will hot-desk in offices with

personal lockable storage. Support staff will share offices with 3 to 5 other

staff. Some of the technicians may need their office space to form part of a

laboratory or equipment store room for which they have responsibility.

Classrooms The FoAA will have access to the central large (flat and raked)

lecture theatres provided by DIT. However, the faculty will also require, in its

own area, large classrooms sized for 50-60 students and smaller

classroom/seminar rooms for 25-30 students. The classrooms should have

integrated AV facilities (preferably multi-screen), LAN and wireless server

connectivity, blackout facilities and flexible furniture. In line with DIT policy,

these classrooms will be bookable through the central timetabling system but

the FoAA will be given priority use. The Conservatory of Music and Drama will

need sound-proof classrooms with sufficient space for a piano; it is therefore

not anticipated that these music classrooms will be shared outside the

conservatory.

Computer laboratories Several of the departments e.g. Media, Design,

Languages, have computer or digital laboratories for 25-30 students. At

present the rooms consist of rows of desks with networked PCs or Macintosh

computers. Technology is changing at a challenging rate. In the future there

may be a move to thin client, wireless laptops (DIT or student owned) or

mobile learning labs, as recently developed by Apple (Figure 7). The mobile

lab allows for classrooms to be temporarily used as computer laboratories,

with the equipment securely stored when not in use. The language

laboratories have design requirements comparable to computer labs.


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Figure

7 Mobile computer lab

Meeting rooms A number of meeting rooms of varying size will be provided

e.g. 4-6 and 8-10 people. The faculty also requires a large meeting room cum

board room, sized to accommodate up to 30 people. The larger meeting

rooms require projection equipment and table top power and data

connectivity. The use of white flat walls is a cost effective way of creating a

projection screen and magnetic paint allows the walls to be easily used for

displaying posters and flipcharts. The boardroom will require a nearby

kitchenette and credenza for preparing and delivering catering.

Research spaces A wide range of technically equipped spaces are required

for specific research needs, and open plan office areas are needed for desk-

based research.

Hub The FoAA needs a central hub for the students from the various

departments and schools within the faculty to interact. This area will be of

great importance for the image and brand of both of the FoAA as a whole and

for the separate identities of the five schools. The hub should provide access

to a caf/refreshment area and form the main entrance to the faculty. It would

also be the central routing space to reach other parts of the faculty and DIT;

therefore signage and way-finding is a key element of the design. The

entrance foyer could be used for small exhibitions and promotion of the FoAA.

Caf/bar An area for student refreshments which is wireless enabled so that

people can meet and work independently or in groups to engage in social

learning; it may also be used for staff interaction with individuals or small

groups. The caf should be associated with the main access to the

department and the main student information services. For evening

performances or exhibitions, the caf could double up as a public bar, with the

appropriate security and licence.

Common rooms As the institute is providing ample amenities for students

and the FoAA is providing a hub and caf area, then the faculty does not

require any common rooms for students. However, the faculty does require a

private space for staff and postgraduate researchers to retreat to. The staff will

also require access to nearby coffee/tea points, e.g. one kitchenette per

school/floor.


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Corridors These need to be generous to accommodate student movement

between study periods. Within the FoAA, wider corridors are required to allow

the easy movement of grand pianos and other instruments, props and

equipment. The wider corridors will also allow them to be used for the display

of artwork or other projects, e.g. the work being carried out in the Early

Education Centre, or simply information on the faculty. Corridors should be

seen as places needing a good ambiance as well as excellent way-finding,

rather than as mere connecting conduits with no personality. Wider areas

perhaps with seating, vending or listening stations, at key nodes along the

corridors would enhance social learning and serendipitous meetings.

Store rooms Most of the schools require a range of secure store rooms,

e.g. for equipment, musical instruments, props and supplies. Some of the

equipment rooms also require space for a technician.

In addition to the above spaces, the FoAA has a wide variety of speciality spaces

related to the particular programmes offered by the faculty, see below.

Studios The art and design studios will provide space typically for up to 60

students. Generally they require good daylight, with possibilities for blackout,

and blank wall space. Although natural light is not essential for studios

devoted solely to IT and media work, the students using these studios will

require space where they can spend their working time in a naturally lit

environment. Some studios will require access for large items (installations).

The fine art studios should have demountable, easily stackable, partitions so

that they can be transformed to display student work to peers and visitors. The

use of roof lighting will maximise the provision of wall space. Studios need to

be located close to: common areas, associated workshops, the areas used by

the technical support staff, storage, and associated specialist areas. Music

practice studios, dance studios and sound studios etc are referred to in the

specialist rooms below.

Figure

8 Flexible fine art studios with roof lighting and moveable partitions


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Workshops The workshops within the FoAA are quite varied, see the space

budgets for a complete list. Workshops will provide work areas for up to 30

students, depending on the activity. They will require access for large items,

higher floor to ceiling than classrooms, good daylight where possible, and

increased ventilation. The workshops could be accommodated within light

industrial type space rather than the main faculty building.

Music teaching studios The majority of music studios will be large enough

for small ensembles and groups and used for extended periods of teaching,

e.g. when specialist staff come in for a day and use a practice room as their

work/teaching base. However, a range of different sized teaching studios are

required (small, medium, large) with an average size of 32 m2. The rooms

should be sufficiently sound-proof to minimise the disruption to other spaces

and offer the appropriate acoustics for teaching music and group practice.

Practice rooms In addition to the music studios, small practice rooms are

required which will merely accommodate an instrumentalist for solo or

accompanied practice. These rooms will also be sound-proofed with good

acoustics for solo practice.

Rehearsal (and recital) spaces The Conservatory of Music and Drama

require a number of large flat rehearsal spaces for orchestras, drama and

possibly dance. The conservatory also requires an Early Music rehearsal

room which is mostly used at evenings and weekends and therefore could be

one of the standard rehearsal rooms with additional provision made for visiting

children. A recital hall with 150-200 seats is also required; again if raked

seating is installed and then the recital hall could also double up as a flat

rehearsal space. It may also be possible to use the recital hall for dance is a

sprung floor is provided and the acoustics adjusted. There is a also a case for

a sub-divisible space so that smaller groups can rehearse at the same time,

but acoustic separation must be high quality for this to be effective.

Concert hall A state of the art concert hall is required by the Conservatory

of Music and Drama for student concerts and guest performances. The

concert hall should be sufficiently sized to accommodate a full philharmonic

orchestra, designed with the appropriate acoustics for orchestral concerts and

able to seat an audience of up to 500. The FoAA is keen to explore methods

that digitally enhance the acoustical properties of the concert hall to create a

flexible performance space that can be credibly used for drama and dance

based performances, possibly operetta, and perhaps used as a cinema.

Specialist technical advice must to be sought to push the acoustic capabilities

to the limit. Performances may be attended by members of the public so

access must be suitable and there must be sufficient WCs and foyer space, as

well as delivery access for large items, to make this possible. In the space

budget, the concert hall is sized assuming a two-story space with seated

gallery for 200-250 seats (not included in the Net Usable Area).


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Theatre A black box theatre is required with capacity for an audience of up

to 150. A sprung floor should be incorporated so that the theatre can support

dance performances. Retractable raked seating will also be needed for dance,

but also enable in the round theatre to be mounted. This space will also be

used occasionally by the Department of Law as a mock court-room, as part of

the students training and experience; sufficient storage for props is required

to allow the theatre to be converted to a court room and other uses. Like the

concert hall, performances here may be open to the general public and all the

necessary provisions are required to support a public performance.

Exhibition/foyer Exhibition space is required for the FoAA students to

showcase their work, especially the departments of Art, Design and Creative

Media. The exhibition space could form part of a foyer to the performance

areas, thus opening it up to the public. Careful consideration should be given

to protecting exhibits. At this stage, it is not anticipated that the space will form

a gallery hosting public exhibitions, but focus on student displays.

Opera house The FoAA aspires to creating a world-class opera house at

the Grangegorman to raise the profile of the Conservatory of Music and

Drama (thus attracting more students) and to serve the local and wider Dublin

community. Rather than attempt to create a multi-purpose auditorium that can

accommodate concerts and opera, the faculty would prefer a dedicated opera

house. The opera house will therefore require external funding and a business

case is needed, proving it is financially viable and can operate with little cost

burden to DIT. The view is therefore, as part of the masterplanning exercise,

to allocate and reserve a site for the potential opera house. The site could be

used for external performances in the interim until external funding is secured.

Open air performance space An external area should be designated which

can be used for open air concerts and cultural events. The space could have

amphitheatre style seating with a permanent stage or the ability to easily

create a temporary stage. It will need to be close to the performance spaces

with easy access to equipment, props, instruments etc.

Sound recording studios The School of Media requires sound recording

studios and talk studios, each with their own control room. The talk studios are

larger to accommodate interviews and group chat. Self-operational radio

studios are also required by Creative Media; they may also be used by the

students running the university radio station. The studios will occasionally be

used for recordings by the Department of Fine Art and Conservatory of Music

and Drama. In addition, the Department of Keyboard Studies requires its own

keyboard studio. A number of video/PPS booths are required by Creative

Media, and these should be located near to the sound recording studios.


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Early learning centre This is a crche facility that will be operated by the

Department of Social Sciences for the children of staff, students and the local

community. The crche will offer hands-on training to nursery nurses and an

observation platform will support courses in educational psychology and

associated research. The centre therefore requires all the facilities to support

a working crche including outdoor play space, plus the additional facilities to

support teaching. It needs to be accessible by the public and close to the

parking and public transport.

TV studios The Department of Creative Media require two fully functional

TV studios and accompanying TV control galleries. The TV studios need to be

conveniently located for easy access of equipment and occasional public use.

Newsrooms The Department of Journalism requires a number of

multifunctional integrated newsrooms. The intention of these spaces is that

they mimic actual newsrooms so that students can be taught how to work in

such environments. The rooms include large layout tables, PC access and

video screens. However, as newsrooms vary in design the facultys

newsrooms should be flexible and adaptable.


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6.0 Space

requirements

6.1 Space

measurement

Space in buildings is sub-divided into different components that make up the total

Gross External Area (GEA) of the building, see Figure 9. The quantities of space

listed in a space budget, i.e. the space required by the faculty, is the Net Usable

Area (NUA). The NUA figure excludes the primary circulation space (which if

added would equate to the Net Internal Area) and the common areas, e.g. stair

cases and toilets, vertical penetrations, e.g. ducts, and columns (which if all

added would equate to the Gross Internal Area); adding the walls would take the

GIA up to the GEA. The difference between the NUA and GIA is sometimes

referred to as balance space in educational facilities.

Figure 9 Composition of space in buildings

DIT have assumed that approximately 20% of space would be added to the NUA

to allow for circulation to form the NIA; a further 20% would be added to equate

the space to the GIA. As the FoAA require wider than usual corridors (3 m

compared to 2 m) then an additional 25-30% of space, rather than 20%, may be

required for primary circulation. All figures discussed below represent NUA.

6.2

Space allocated by DIT to the FoAA

Table 3, overleaf, shows that the proportion of space initially allocated in the

Outline Brief for Grangegorman1 for the FoAA is 16,500 m2 out of a total campus

2. This is equivalent to 5.1 m2 per student, based on a

wide NUA of 115,600 m

forecast of 3,229 FTE students for 2010/11 and beyond. Currently, the FoAA has

11,200 m2, which equates to 3.9 m2 per FTE student and is approximately 25%

less space than that proposed.


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DRAFT v1.3

One method of determining the space required is to use benchmark data as a

guideline. In this top down approach the average amount of space per student

allocated at other universities is multiplied out by the projected student numbers.

A short exercise was conducted to compare the space per student allocated with

HEFCE benchmarks3. The space per student of the different schools within the

FoAA where compared with those provided by HEFCE and the overall space per

student was calculated to be 4.7 m2 per FTE student. The space allocated for the

FoAA therefore appears more generous than HEFCE standards, but it does

include 5,000 m2 of specialist performance space.

Gross

FoAA

Internal

Net

Net

Space category

m2

Usable m2

Usable

Dedicated Faculty Space

Applied Arts

13,400

9,500

9,500

Built Environment

7,000

5,000

Business

9,100

6,500

Engineering

23,000

16,350

Science

10,600

7,500

Tourism & Food

9,400

6,650

Faculty Sub-total

72,500

51,500

9,500

Specialised Facilities

Performance & exhibition space

7,000

5,000

5,000

Social, legal & Languages

2,800

2,000

2,000

Craft Training Facilities (Built Enviro & Eng)

14,000

10,000

Research Buildings 4x2,500

14,000

10,000

Specialised Sub-total

37,800

27,000

7,000

Central Services and Facilities

Learning Resource/ Library

16,100

11,500

Academic Supports, Life Long Learning, Staff Train &

700

500

Computing data centre & ICT staff

1,750

1,250

Cafeteria, incl. staff common room

7,700

5,500

Sports Centre

9,100

6,500

4,200

3,000

Student Union & Recreation

Student Support & Academic Student Services One-

1,680

1,200

Executive Suite & Central Admin

1,610

1,150

Buildings & Maintainance

2,800

2,000

Large exam hall(s)

2,100

1,500

Central lecture and seminar bank

2,800

2,000

Executive learning centre

1,400

1,000

Central Sub-total

51,940

37,100

0

TOTAL

162,240

115,600

16,500

Table 3 The space initially allocated to the FoAA at Grangegorman


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DRAFT v1.3

Of course, the FoAA staff and students will use the central services and facilities

on offer at the new campus including the central lecture theatre and seminar

bank, the library/learning centre and the various amenities. If the space in the

central services and facilities is apportioned to the FoAA, based on the

approximate percentage of student numbers, then the FoAA is in effect allocated

a further 8,500 m2 of net usable space, bringing their NUA up to approximately

25,000 m2. This is equivalent to 7.7 m2 per FTE student, almost twice that

currently available.

6.3

Space required by FoAA

The alternative approach to using benchmark data to determine the space

required is to build the space budget from the bottom up. This was done by first

asking the heads of school to estimate the number and type of room that they

require, and how often they use such rooms. The individual room size was then

calculated using the proposed seating capacity and architectural space metrics5,

or alternatively basing the size on existing well designed rooms. The number of

each room type was then multiplied by the associated size and summed to

provide the total space requested by each school.

As the institute is providing lecture theatres, large classrooms and a library, such

space requested by the schools was taken off their space budget. Furthermore,

some of the room types requested by each school are similar and some are only

used for part of the teaching week. Therefore an exercise was undertaken to

determine which rooms can be shared within the faculty, in particular meeting

rooms, classrooms and common rooms. Finally, rooms which could serve

multiple functions were also combined, e.g. a recital hall could also double up as

a rehearsal hall. The shared rooms and multiple function rooms were classed as

part of the faculty rather than school space budget.

School

Current m Requested m

Excl Inst*

Excl shared**

School of Art, Design and Printing

5,403

5,402

4,742

4,282

School of Social Sciences and Legal Studies

401

4,783

3,059

1,059

School of Media

2,377

5,960

4,660

2,290

Conservatory of Music and Drama

2,339

7,162

6,642

4,689

School of Languages

284

2,271

2,073

732

Centres

202

724

724

634

Faculty/Shared Faculty

90

250

250

5,079

Total Faculty of Applied Arts (Net m)

11,096

26,549

22,147

18,762

Difference

15,453

-4,402

-3,385

Table 4 Space budget required by the schools within the FoAA

5 D Adler (ed) Metric Handbook: Planning and Design Data. London: Elsevier, 2004.


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DRAFT v1.3

Table 4 shows the total amount of space required by each school, plus the

centres and faculty within the FoAA; the details of the room types required by

each school are provided in Appendix 3. The FoAA requires approximately

18,800 m2 of faculty space (NUA), which is 2,300 m2 (14%) more than the 16,500

m2 (9,500 m2 faculty space plus 7,000 m2 specialised performance and Early

1.

Learning spaces) originally allocated in the Outline Brief for Grangegorman

However, this space budget assumes that some 4,400 m2 of space is available

centrally e.g. library and large lecture theatres. It also assumes that

approximately 3,400 m2 can be saved by sharing facilities within the faculty

(assigned Shared Faculty in Table 4) and using rooms for multiple functions.

Based on the projected student FTE numbers, 18,800 m2 NUA equates to 5.9 m2

per student of faculty space.

The FoAA is uncertain whether they will continue to run their printing

apprenticeship. If the course continues then access to the central apprenticeship

classroom will be required. In addition a further 180 m2 will be required for the

pre-press, printing and finishing laboratories.


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DRAFT v1.3

Appendix 1 Staff consulted

Prof Ellen Hazelkorn, Director of Faculty of Applied Arts

Dr Brid Grant, Director and Dean of Applied Arts (Acting)

Andrea Marcelin, Faculty Administrator

John O'Connor, Head of School of Art, Design & Printing

Kieran Corcoran, Head of Dept of Design

Dr Mick Wilson, Head of Dept of Fine Art

Dr Cliona Doris, Head of the Conservatory of Music & Drama (Acting)

Anne-Marie O'Sullivan, Head of Dept of Drama

Dr David Mooney, Head of Dept of Keyboard Studies

William Halpin, Head of Dept of Orchestral Studies (Acting)

Dr Kerry Houston, Head of Dept of Academic Studies

Dr Eddie Brennan, Head of School of Media (Acting)

Hlne Conway, Head of School of Languages

Alma Conway, Head of School of Languages (Acting)

Dr Bruce Carolan, Head of School of Social Science and Law

Dr Kevin Lalor, Head of Dept of Social Science

Dr Fergus Ryan, Head of Dept of Law

Dr Noirin Hayes, Head of Learning Development and Manager of Centre for

Social and Educational Research (CSER)

Dr Brian ONeill, Head of Research & Graduate Studies

Charlie Pritchard, Manager of Digital Media Centre (DMC)

Dr Aine OBrien, Manager of Centre for Transcultural Research and Media

Practice (CTMP)

Paul Horan, Office of the President

Noel OConnor, Office of the President


page 26 of 37

DRAFT v1.3

Appendix 2 Projected student numbers

Student Numbers

Student

Actual

Approx

Projected

Projected

Projected

School

Type

2006/07

2007/08

2008/09

2009/10

2010/11

Whole-time

461

489

522

523

530

Postgraduate

23

9

20

20

20


UG Part-time/Apprentice

55

55

50

50

50

PG Part-time/Apprentice

00000

Sub-total

539

553

592

593

600

Whole-time

423

322

303

295

297

Postgraduate

142

171

200

199

199



392

355

365

365

365


13

37

60

60

60

Sub-total

970

885

928

919

921

Whole-time

347

385

419

447

444

Postgraduate

130

128

219

227

227

Media


59

28

40

40

40


00000

Sub-total

536

541

678

714

711

Whole-time

178

190

220

224

233

Postgraduate

22

15

17

17

17

Music and Drama


1,804

1,800

1,800

1,800

1,800


00000

Sub-total

2,004

2,005

2,037

2,041

2,050

Whole-time

286

338

408

452

414

P

o

s

t

g

r

a

d

u

a

t

e

30000

Languages


696

690

690

690

690


01

51

51

51

5

Sub-total

985

1,043

1,113

1,157

1,119

Whole-time

1,695

1,724

1,872

1,941

1,918

Postgraduate

320

323

456

463

463


UG Part-time/Apprentic

3,006

2,928

2,945

2,945

2,945

PG Part-time/Apprentic

13

52

75

75

75

TOTAL

5,034

5,027

5,348

5,424

5,401

The table below converts the shows the FTE students numbers where part-time

students are calculated as 0.4 or 0.2 of a student

Student

Actual

Approx

Projected

Projected

Projected

School

Type

2006/07

2007/08

2008/09

2009/10

2010/11

Student numbers

539

553

592

593

600


Student FTE*

506

520

562

563

570

Student numbers

970

885

928

919

921


Student FTE*

727

650

673

664

666

Student numbers

536

541

678

714

711

Media

Student FTE*

501

524

654

690

687

Student numbers

2,004

2,005

2,037

2,041

2,050

Music and Drama

Student FTE**

561

565

597

601

610

Student numbers

985

1,043

1,113

1,157

1,119

Languages

Student FTE*

567

620

690

734

696

Student numbers

5,034

5,027

5,348

5,424

5,401


Student FTE

2,862

2,879

3,176

3,252

3,229

* FTE = 0.4 students

** FTE = 0.2 students


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DRAFT v1.3

Appendix 3 Space budgets


page 28 of 37

+80%

+80%

+80%

+80%

+80%

in use

61-80%

61-80%

% of week

27

41

27

18

14

14

50

60

140

110

250

Total

NUA m

27.0

13.5

27.0

18.0

13.5

13.5

50.0

60.0

Size

m NUA

1

1

4

2

1

25

40

n/a

N of seats

staff/students

1

3

1

1

1

1

1

1

required

N of rooms

Description of use or size

Head of Faculty

Head or Res, Prog, MR

Administrative

Secretarial

Faculty assistant

Copy/print

Board room

Faculty hub/caf


Faculty Requirements

Faculty Shared Requirements

DIT Common Requirements

TOTAL REQUESTED

Type of room

Office

Office

Office

Office

Office

Specialist/other

Total School NUA

Board room/large meeting room

Common room

Total Shared NUA

n/a

DRAFT v1.3


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+80%

+80%

+80%

+80%

+80%

development of a campus for dit at...

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