RIAI Announces Competition Winner for New Main Entrance – Dublin City University

The RIAI has announced the winner of the open, one-stage competition for a New Main Entrance at Dublin City University. The winning entry is by Pol Gallagher, ZaP Architecture, based in London. The objective of the competition was to the reinvigorate the appearance and functionality of the campus as well bring DCU’s vision and brand expression of Ireland’s University of Enterprise to life. The judges praised the winning entry as a scheme that had “fulfilled all the aspirations of the design brief, creating an exciting, memorable and timeless new main entrance for the University. The design focuses on the threshold between Collins Avenue and the University with an assembly of multiple glulam masts of varying height, on both sides of the entrance, like copses of stripped back trees. This loose arrangement of verticals is visually distinctive, and symbolises the students, staff and graduates that constitute the University.” The Second Place entry by de Blacam and Meagher was described by the jury as ”exceptional for the breadth of vision put forward”, in particular, its proposal for Collins Avenue to be landscaped with London Plane trees in the manner of Baggot Street or Griffith Avenue”. Third Place by Maguire McBrien was lauded as “an efficient and elegant solution for the new gateway and campus generally”.