New TUS Athlone building to cater for 1,300 more students

Work is set to start on a massive new Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) building on Athlone's TUS campus.

Construction on the Athlone pject should be completed in early 2025, with the building expected to be operational by September 2025.

The building will span three storeys and a floor area in excess of 6,000 sq m.

It will create capacity for up to 1,300 students and 70 staff.

It will feature an entrance plaza, tiered seating, science and computer laboratories and equipment, lecture theatres, and office space and connect with the campus’s existing engineering building and new polymer centre of excellence.

The new building is one of six to be delivered by a Public Private Partnership (PPP), with an overall price tag of approximately €250 million ex VAT.

The others are located in the Technological University Dublin (TU Dublin) Tallaght and Blanchardstown campuses; Munster Technological University (MTU) campuses in Cork and Tralee, and in the Institute of Art, Design and Technology (IADT), Dún Laoghaire.

Funding for what was then announced as a €15m Athlone project was confirmed in late 2017 before a planning application was lodged in 2019 for the building.

The new building alone will cater for some 800 students, but will free up space elsewhere on campus to allow an intake of a total of over 1,300 extra students.

The contract has been awarded to the Enbarr Partnership, comprising Macquarie Capital Group Ltd. (equity provider), JJ Rhatigan & Company (construction contractor) and Sodexo (facilities management).

The project will be funded by AIB, Bank of Ireland, Nord/LB, Korea Development Bank and Norinchukin Bank.

As with other PPP projects in the education sector, the contract type is design, build, finance and maintain.

The Enbarr Partnership will construct the buildings using private finance, and will then operate and maintain the buildings over a period of 25 years.

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Payment by the Department will be by way of monthly unitary charge over the 25 year operational period, commencing once construction has been completed.

Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science Simon Harris welcomed the conclusion and signing of the contracts for the construction of the six new buildings.

He said: “This is a really important development in higher education.

“The construction of these buildings on multiple campuses across the country will improve the educational experience for current and future generations of students.

“It also represents an important milestone in the Government’s Higher Education PPP programme and illustrates a commitment to investment in the higher education sector.

“We look forward to the construction progression of each of these six buildings over the coming years and look forward to welcoming the first students to the new buildings. The future is bright.”

When all six buildings are completed, they will comprise circa 38,060 of additional building space at the campuses and will cater for 5,147 additional student places. In addition, the provision of these buildings will free up space in existing buildings and allow for new student places.

Westmeath Fine Gael Minister Peter Burke TD has warmly welcomed the news from Minister Simon Harris

“I understand that contracts have now officially been signed to commence the construction of a brand new, 6,000m2 STEM building on the campus of TUS.

“We have seen since TUS was officially declared a Technological University by Minister Simon Harris last year that the TUS has gone from strength to strength. We are lucky to have such a world class facility on our doorstep, offering globally recognised and gold standard higher education to our student population, young and old”.

Jimmy Browne, VP with a responsibility for Campus Services and Capital Development at TUS, said the STEM facility represents another important step forward in the development of TUS’s campus infrastructure and will provide significant benefit to students, staff and stakeholders in the region.

“This new building will facilitate the expansion of STEM education on our Athlone campus and will be fitted out with state-of-the-art learning and teaching facilities that exemplify the high standards of facilities that TUS is committed to delivering for students and staff as a new technological university,” he explained.

A number of laboratories, specialist and general, will be stacked over the first and second floors of the new STEM facility, among them a cell culture suite, an important technique for developing biotechnology products, such as monoclonal antibodies.

The building will also house new sports teaching and research facilities for TUS’s sport and health science courses, including a new biomechanics laboratory and an athletic therapy treatment room.

According to Dr Don Faller, Dean of the Faculty of Science and Health at TUS, the new STEM facility will be a “game-changer” whose additional academic, industry,

and research capabilities will significantly enhance the campus and overall student experience.

“When it comes on stream in 2025, it will be a game-changer. We currently have more than 2,000 students studying within the Faculty of Science and Health in Athlone and this number is projected to grow considerably in the coming years. The additional capacity and state-of-the-art capabilities this new STEM building will provide will enable us to continue growing and developing our STEM offering,” Dr Faller said.

TUS President Prof. Vincent Cunnane added that the investment will deliver a significant social and economic boost to the region.

“TUS is a growing entity, undergoing a period of considerable change and expansion, and is a key driver of economic growth within the region. Our goal is to build a modern and dynamic campus that is futureproofed and capable of meeting the demands of the present and the future, which will ultimately support the region in retaining talent and attracting inward investment,” Prof. Cunnane said.