University College Dublin and the future : a memorandum from a research group of Tuairim, Dublin branch, on the report of the Commission on Accommodation Needs of the constituent colleges of the National University of Ireland : with special reference to

66 U.C.D. and the Future

Appendix F

DETAILS OF THE HARCOURT STREET STATION SITE

Taken from the advertisements of sale which appeared in the national press during April and May 1959

The whole block was to be offered first as one lot and failing a sale as such, then, in the following six lots:--

LOT 1 A warehouse premises of 17,460 sq. ft. approx. together with uncovered space of 34,740 sq. ft. approx. This property is leased to The Irish Dunlop Co. Ltd. for a term of 10 years from the 1st March, 1953, subject to £1,600 per annum. The tenants are responsible for all rates (R.V.., £360) and repairs. Held by Vendors in fee-simple.

LOT 2 Ground and buildings thereon at Adelaide Road leased to Auto Services Ltd. for a term of 21 years from the 1st January, 1949, subject to £400 per annum. The tenants are responsible for all rates (R.V. £320) and repairs.

LOT 3 Ground and buildings thereon at 57b Harcourt Street (corner of Harcourt Road and Harcourt Street) leased to Auto Services Ltd. for 99 years from the 4th September 1945, subject to £255 per annum. The tenants are responsible for all rates (R.V. £270) and repairs. These premises now comprise a modern Garage and Filling Station. Held by Vendors, in Fee-simple.

LOT 4 Building at Hatch Street, leased to Messrs. Wilson & Co. Ltd., for a term of 99 years from the 17th December 1957, subject to £156 per annum. The tenants are responsible for all rates. Held by Vendors, in Fee-simple.

LOT 5 Vaults under the station. These vaults extend to about 80,100 sq. ft. leased to Messrs. W. & A. Gilbey Ltd., for a term of 42 years from the 29th September 1926, subject to £1,000 per annum. The tenants are responsible for all rates (R.V. £280) and repairs.

The tenants have liberty to surrender their tenancy every seven years, calculated from the 29th September 1926 -- i.e., next date, 29th September 1961. Held by Vendors, in Fee-simple.

LOT 6 Station Premises, Complete Vacant Possession, Entrance from Harcourt Street and Adelaide Road.

Covered Area, 27,500 sq. ft. approximately. Uncovered Area, 63,500 sq. ft. approximately.

These extensive premises, with their distinctive and valuable frontage to Harcourt Street, comprise one of the most important properties to come on the market for many years. Its prominent location on a main thoroughfare, within a few hundred yards of the city centre, makes this a city landmark, with exceptional advertising value. Held by Vendors, in Fee-simple.

At the public auction on 12th June '59, the whole of the above property was sold as one lot for a sum of £67,500.

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Appendix G

Extract from an address of SIR ERIC ASHBY, D.Sc., Sc.D., LL.D., D.L.C. sometime Vice-Chancellor of Queens Univerity, Belfast, to a Symposium on the Design of Teaching Laboratories in Universities and Colleges of Advanced Technology, held on 14th March, 1958, at the R.I.B.A., London.

Before I take visitors round my university I always explain that we are desperately short of space. Then as we walk round I am always dismayed and embarrassed to find most of the laboratories empty. This is the unsolved problem. As teaching laboratories are designed at present, the efficiency of plant-utilisation (as the Americans would call it) is deplorably low.

Here are some figures to illustrate the problem. The largest laboratory in a science department is the elementary laboratory. It is academically more efficient and it saves the time of the teaching staff if all elementary students can do their practical work at the same time. But the elementary class in (say) chemistry does only six hours practical work a week for two terms. In other science subjects the amount of elementary practical work may be even less. Now the university is 'open' from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on five days a week and from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturdays. This menas that the 'plant' is available for its purpose for a 44-hour week. There are about 23 working weeks in the year. If we subtract lunch hours over 23 weeks it leaves us with a net availability of 897 hours per year. These laboratories are occupied by students for only 108 hours a year; a 'plantutilisation-efficiency' of 12 per cent. For 88 per cent of the university's opening time those laboratories will be empty.

The Scottish universities and some universities in England still have large elementary classes. Other English universities begin their courses at the post-intermediate stage, and it might be thought that the problem of inefficient utilisation vanishes beyond the elementary stage of teaching. But this is not so. Many advanced courses do not require more than 12 hours a week in the laboratory for 22 weeks. This amount of 264 hours a year: a 'plant-efficiency' of 29 per cent. In brief, it is only the honours student in the last year of his course who occupies the laboratory for anything like most of the time it is available.

Let me illustrate this problem by one detailed example. In concerns a modern geology separtment, and I include now not only the classes for geologists but all held in the laboratories. The buildings contain (in addition to private rooms, lecture rooms, workshop and stores, and a seminar-library room) three main laboratories: one for elementary students and two (one for palaeontology ad stratigraphy, and one for petrology and mineralogy) for advanced students. The use of the laboratories is summarised in the accompanying table.

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.

70 U.C.D. and the Future

Appendix I

AN ARTICLE FROM THE 'IRISH BUILDER AND ENGINEER,' 25th JULY, 1959

Accommodation Needs of the National University By P. Callinan, F.R.I.C.S.

The Minister for Education, in September, 1957, appointed a Commission of nine members to enquire into the accommodation needs of the three constituent colleges of the National University of Ireland and to advise as to how these needs could be best met.

The university colleges in Cork and Galway have been in existence since 1849. University College, Dublin was established after the Irish University Act, 1908, came into force. This is now the largest of the three colleges. Its principal building is at Earlsfort Terrace and was completed in 1919. Estimates made before this building was planned were for 1,000 students. This number was exceeded in 1917; in 1927 the number was still under 1,200; in 1934 the number exceeded 2,000; in 1945, 3,000 and now has reached nearly 4,000 full-time students.

According to the report, only 45 per cent of the 1912 building programme was carried out. In 1926, the College of Science was transferred to U.C.D., and a building adjoining it was made available to the university in 1951. The report goes on to say that, in 1945, a comprehensive survey was made of all possible sites in the Earlsfort Terrace area, and owing to various difficulties the college authorities decided not to proceed further on the lines of a layout plan then prepared by Mr. J. V. Downes, F.R.I.A.I. Efforts were next made to purchase the site of Mespil House (5 1/2 acres), with the intention of transferring to that site the engineering and architectural departments. These efforts failed, and the next move was to look for a site outside the central area of Dublin. Land was purchased in the Stillorgan Road area and, including the Belfield sports grounds, the college came into possession there of 252 acres (at a cost of £255,438).

'The architectural advisory board to the Commission have prepared a layout plan siting the college buildings at Belgrove. The net floor area in use at Earlsfort Terrace, Merrion Street and Newman House is given as 207,000 sq. ft. but 43,334 sq. ft. represents accommodation mainly taken over from the defunct Royal University of Ireland, which is not of satisfactory construction-- leaving only about 164,000 sq. ft of sound construction. This excludes the Albert College, where the third and fourth year agricultural students are accommodated. The net working area estimated to be required by the several departments of the College is 610,630 sq. ft. The new building will be provided on a site 2 1/2 miles from St. Stephen's Green and Merrion Street. Trinity College, Dublin College, Dublin, which has 1,800 students, has a site of 35 1/2 acres. Queen's University, Belfast, with 2,000 students, has 87 acres.

The desirability of finding a solution of the college accommodation problem in the vicinity of existing college buildings was the subject of a submission to the Commission by Dr. R. McHugh, U.C.D. lecturer in English, on the ground that the college was associated with the city, that the present site ensured that night students (who number 400) and the general public had easy access; the college was in close proximity to hostels and lodgings and to libraries and museums, etc., and that, in view of the capital cost of replacing existing buildings, their retention was desirable.

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Extension Nearby Rejected

The Committee (on p. 35 of their report) give the reasons that influenced them to reject a proposal for the extension of the college adjacent to its present location. On reading this the present writer can only regret that there was no architect member of the Commission, or a valuation surveyor experienced in the acquisition of property. To anyone experienced in such matters the Commission's attitude could only appear as that of persons inexperienced in economics of land use. If the College had an experienced valuer to consult, they would not have allowed the Mespil House site to slip through their fingers, so to speak. 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. Although the Commission expresses the view that, with the Mespil House site, the College would not have sufficient accommodation without other property, it could with proper advice have acquired such additional property nearby. The Commission are obsessed with the importance of what they term the physical unity of the college, an arrangement that very few of the universities in these islands have attained in practice (with the present trends in medical education, accommodation for lectures for medical students will have to be provided in the hospitals).

One member of the Commission (Mr. A. O'Rahilly) would solve the space requirements of U.C.D. and T.C.D. by amalgamating them and rationalizing the courses. He points out that extensions to the Earlsfort Terrace building could be made gradually by acquiring the property towards the canal and that the central grounds of Trinity College could be expanded by acquisition of property along Pearse Street and Westland Row. The suggested amalgamation raises points other than accommodation, but judged from that standpoint the proposed solution could not be bettered.

The Cork College requires an additional 67,000 sq. ft. of building at a cost of over £500,000; Galway College 99,000 sq. ft. at over £600,000. In some respects the needs of the Galway College were placed more clearly before the Commission than those of the other colleges--thanks to the preparation of drawings by their consulting architects.

Not to be Considered in Isolation

The Commission, by their terms of reference, could consider only the question of accommodation. The urgent need for additional space is obvious, but in the light of present trends in university and higher technological education the matter cannot be considered in isolation. The Commission make no reference to the fact that other universities (notably Edinburgh, Glasgow and Manchester) have instituted a degree in technology and utilize existing technological colleges. Here, in Dublin, a full timecourse in building has been established at the Bolton Street Technological Institute. The building industry on the management side, is in need of higher education no less than is agriculture. No existing course at a university meets fully the industry's special needs; probably the best course so far established is that at the Manchester Technological Institute where, incidentally, great attention is given to the study of at least one continental language, in addition to studies in engineering, architecture, surveying and economics.

72 U.C.D. and the Future

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

Appendices 73

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

74 U.C.D. and the Future

feel at times the urgencies of metropolitan life and national government that seethe outside. For better or worse, Trinity's destiny is to hold the finest site in the centre of a great city — and to justify her holding of it.'

How different is Trinity's appreciation of its central site from the U.C.D. authorities' determination to fly from the area. All the points included by the Professor as being enjoyed by Trinity can similarly be enjoyed by U.C.D. if it stays on its present site and will be thrown away if it insists on going to Stillorgan Road.