Chadwicks Group donates €250,000 to TU Dublin to develop Ireland’s First Design + Construct Centre
TU Dublin and Chadwicks partner to meet the national demand for skills training, education and craft apprenticeship for Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) sectors.
Chadwicks Group, Ireland’s leading builders’ merchants, has today announced it is partnering with Technological University Dublin (TU Dublin) to develop Ireland’s first Design + Construct Centre. As part of the partnership, Chadwicks Group is donating €250,000 to support the construction of the new state-of-the-art centre which will redefine and revolutionise the teaching and learning of Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) in Ireland.
Once complete, Design + Construct Centre, which will be located at Broombridge close to the University’s Grangegorman Campus, will enable TU Dublin to meet future national AEC education needs while also contributing to global green and digital construction targets. It will produce highly skilled, work-ready graduates and apprentices who have developed through knowledge sharing, research, and access to cutting edge physical and virtual resources.
Commenting on the announcement, Patrick Atkinson, Chief Executive of Chadwicks Group said,
“Chadwicks Group is delighted to announce it is partnering with TU Dublin to develop a new state-of-the-art Centre for students of the Architecture, Engineering and Construction field. Training and development are of the utmost importance for our industry at present. This partnership will assist TU Dublin to meet the national demand for skills training, education and craft apprenticeship by focusing on upskilling and reskilling students through flexible, practice-based learning. The new Centre will play a key role in addressing our nation’s skills gap in key sectors by providing a much-needed space for dynamic learning and we are thrilled to mark the beginning of this partnership today.”
Educational and learning activities at the Design + Construct Centre will be led by national and international experts and students will be supported in developing their sustainable entrepreneurial and business skills. The Centre will offer a flexible learning environment to reflect the dynamics of modern construction and sustainable practices, including:
- Physical and virtual tool and materials libraries
- Building performance prototyping and training spaces
- Digital technology studios, including Building Information Modelling, Artificial Reality, Virtual Reality and Mixed Reality
- Off-site manufacturing and digital fabrication facilities
Through technology and innovations in construction and design, the Centre will also contribute to global sustainability and digital construction targets.
Orna Hanly, Design + Construct Project Lead at TU Dublin, commented on the impact of the new partnership: “TU Dublin is delighted to welcome the Chadwicks Group to a tightly connected network of industry and academic partners, collaborating to hasten the digital transformation of the sector and set new international standards of practice in support of climate action. The Chadwicks Group’s generous support of Design + Construct will deliver a seamless network of learning and research for the Architecture, Engineering and Construction industry, developing graduates with the capabilities required to lead a climate-focused digital revolution in the sector.”
