Printing House Square: re-shaping campus How Trinity’s first new square in a century is working with students to improve healthcare and disability services O ne of the ‘must see’ sites in this year’s Open House Dublin - the city’s annual festival of architecture - on 15 October was Printing House Square, just opened on campus. The first new square at Trinity in over a hundred It is estimated that about 10% of students at Trinity have a disability, of which about three-quarters are neurodivergent and this is a rapidly growing category. The number of students with autism seeking support increased by 50% in years is a student hub whose entrance onto Pearse Street the 2020-21 academic year, and is likely to increase further makes it a gateway between city and college. with the publication of the Government’s national access Printing House Square is designed by award-winning architects, McCullough Mulvin, around a courtyard which gestures to Trinity’s older quadrangles. With three floors below basement and five strategy which is aimed at boosting the number of students from underrepresented groups, including those with disabilities, and tackling higher dropout rates among these students. floors above, it provides much needed student accommodation - 250 bedrooms clustered in groups of 6-8 sharing a kitchen/ common room - together with a sports centre and a transformative disAbility hub and health centre, which aims to further the The aim is to give students ownership of their own choices The bustling college environment can pose sensory challenges for neurodivergent students, with recent research pointing to a lack of quiet spaces and acoustics in lecture theatres creating issues for some. The college’s ‘sense’ project is an initiative college’s mission in pastoral care and inclusivity. aimed at making the campus more inclusive by The health centre is offering students a range of services in key areas such as contraception. The cost of building sensory awareness spaces in areas such as libraries and student social spaces. contraceptive implants – typically €350-€400 – has been The ethos of Trinity’s Disability Service is to move from a prohibitive for many students, but under a state-funded model where students are passive recipients of support initiative, they will now be free. The aim is ‘to give students to one where students take an active part in developing ownership of their contraceptive choices,’ says Dr David essential life skills and planning their education journey. McGrath, director of Trinity Health Services. Declan Treanor points out that many of these students simply The disAbility hub is designed for students to drop in and has meeting rooms named after celebrated past students with disabilities, an ‘ability co-op’ area run by students themselves, learn differently and only require some extra support - ‘We look at students in a transformational way: we work with them and get them ready for work.’ and a new seminar space, ‘an Mheitheal’, which is available The first major event in Printing House Square Unique: a to book for group events, and by clubs and societies that can Disabled Perspective , an arts/poetry exhibition featuring work show they are fully inclusive. by disabled students, opened on 29 November. In time, the Trinity disAbility hub hopes that Printing House Square will be the first port of call for all things inclusive, both in the Trinity community and beyond, encompassing both disabled students and disabled alumni. Declan Treanor, director of the Trinity Disability Service, welcomes the Trinity disAbility hub ‘as a place of empowerment, both for students and graduates, and also a place for radical inclusion in Trinity and beyond’.
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