Campus Development Plan

The Office of the Chief Operations Officer is responsible for the primary management of the University's capital projects. Accordingly, this section of the University's website provides some background information on the major capital projects that are already underway, or are intended to be soon.  

In April 2016 the University embarked upon an ambitious Campus Development Plan. Further information on that plan may be accessed at the link below.

Campus Development Plan

For further information on some of the the University's current capital projects please click on the relevant links below.   

The 10,000m² facility will further advance DCU’s international reputation for excellence in science, computing and engineering disciplines. It will have the capacity to accommodate over 3,000 additional STEM students on the university’s Glasnevin campus, and will also house DCU’s entire School of Health & Human Performance.

As of May 2023 the Polaris construction project has reached the half way mark and an overview of progress to date may be accessed here. 

The building will include a Human Performance Lab focused on high performance sports research, a Life Lab to help students develop improved health literacy, and a Movement Lab that will use state-of-the-art indoor sport facilities to help the local community access data analytics and visualisation techniques.

Polaris is designed as an immersive eco-system that actively breaks down boundaries, sparking collaboration across subjects and between groups, inside and outside the university. Active learning spaces like the planned Industry Robotics Lab and Immersive Visualisation Suite will help students collaborate with industry and peers from around the world, while on-site STEM outreach programmes will help local students explore STEM options at third level. 

At its peak, the site will have 150 people working on it. 

Anticipated completion date: Q1 2024.

Last updated 23rd May 2023

The Public Realm project consists of the redevelopment of the space adjacent to the Main Restaurant on the Glasnevin Campus, within the open courtyard formed by the Albert College Extension, plus the Henry Grattan and Hamilton buildings.

The works include the renewal of all paved areas and construction of new planted areas, public spaces and amenities to cover approximately 4,000m2. 

Anticipated Completion Date: Q4 2022

Last updated 15th November 2022.

This project is currently on hold.

The proposed new student residences project on the Glasnevin Campus will consist of the demolition of the existing  sports pitches and the Larkfield Student Residences building to allow for the development of approximately 1,231 new en-suite bedrooms for on-campus student accommodation.

The project will provide seven new buildings (of approximately 50,000 m2), with associated public realm and landscaped areas. It will include a number of ancillary spaces, along with the provision of multi-functional spaces at ground floor level for commercial, conference, seminar and/or student support purposes.

Last updated 22nd September 2022.

As a public body in receipt of Exchequer funding the University is required to apply certain practices, procedures and guidelines, as set out by various Irish government departments, with regard to the management and control of its capital works projects.

To address these requirements the University's Executive adopted an initial Capital Works Framework in November 2015 and subsequently updated it, most recently in October 2022. The Framework sets out, at a high level, how the University's senior management seeks to exercise control and meet its oversight responsibilities for the the management of capital works that are either initiated by the University, or one of its wholly owned subsidiary companies.

Members of staff who wish to view the current Framework may access it at the link below.