Long Room Hub, Trinity College, Dublin



Architect
McCullough Mulvin Architects
Date Built
2010
Location
Fellow's Square, Trinity College
Description
The "Long Room Hub" building sits on Fellows Square on the Trinity College campus adjacent to the "Old Library"  It was built to provide a home to the team working on the digitization of the historic book collection in the Long Room of the Old Library.  The building is also home to post-doctoral students and visiting Research Fellows.  It has spaces devoted to seminars, lectures, conferences, symposia and colloquia.

The architects say of it that, " ... the ‘Long Room Hub’ – will be a platform for the Irish university sector focus on achieving world-class status. It is a space for thinking, for making soaring linkages, for sharing the unique collections of the Long Room." Adding that, "The Hub will be a powerhouse of ideas; the honeycomb granite surface is broken and imprecise; it floats over the existing fabric; the canons of light crash through the form, disturbing expectations and creating zones and double heights for work and research. Its character is formed by its thin-ness; it can be seen through from side to side, the external envelope broken by recesses forming balconies and external spaces."