Plans lodged for €25m STEM building at GMIT
A planning application has been lodged at City Hall for a new four-storey building at GMIT to house the schools of science, computing and engineering.
The €25m project is part of the college’s plan to achieve Technological University status.
The STEM (Science, technology, engineering and mathematics) block will be an extension to the existing science and technology schools and will create space for up to 450 students.
The building will include 30 classrooms, as well as research labs, meeting rooms, seminar rooms, offices, informal education ‘break-out’ areas and lecture theatres set over four floors.
The extension would be separated from the existing building by five metres, and will have a link on the ground floor level, while there will be two bridge links connecting the building at first floor level.
According to the application: “The proposed extension is driven by GMIT objectives to improve lab-based space provision for STEM education, enhance student experience and enable progression towards Technological University status.
“Currently, 77% of GMIT students attend the Galway campus. The campus, however, provides 27% below Institute of Technology space norms of 10 square metres per student.
“The design, construction and operations of the extension will also be used as a comprehensive case study for School of Engineering students.
“The building will not have any significant impact on the amenity of residential properties to the east of the site along Ballybane Road,” the application reads.
In October 2017, the Minister for Education and Skills, Richard Bruton announced a €200 million PPP (Public-Private Partnership) Programme for the Higher Education sector.
The objective was to provide a “high-quality infrastructure that is equipped to cater to a significantly expanded student body, that supports innovative and flexible approaches to teaching and learning”.
The investment was across 11 Institutes of Technology around the country, including GMIT, with a focus on STEM.
Under the so-called ‘Connacht-Ulster Alliance’, GMIT in partnership with Letterkenny IT and IT Sligo will be lodging an application for university status.
The CUA’s vision is to become “an internationally focused learning and knowledge-producing organisation; intimately engaged with our students, users and stakeholders on and off our network of regional campuses; entrepreneurial and flexible, and stakeholder-centred in outlook and behaviour across all our functions; and collaborative with a variety of academic and public and private sector enterprises, locally and internationally”.