Details announced for two new Glassworks buildings
An artist’s impression of the One Health academic building at Glassworks campus, Cork Road, Waterford.
South East Technological University (SETU) has confirmed that two landmark educational projects at the Glassworks campus in Waterford city are progressing to the next stage of development.
Glassworks is a 37-acre enterprise and innovation campus which is currently in development beside South East Technological University (SETU).
The site is effectively a combination of academia with industry, taking inspiration from successful models at the University of Nottingham’s Innovation Park and the Cortex innovation district in St Louis, Missouri.
The Glassworks site in its entirety is expected to have capacity for up to 6,000 employees, and will feature a 582-student bed development, as well as facilities for new university courses.
Last week, the site’s €43 million flagship building, Building One, was launched by Taoiseach Micheal Martin.
Two additional planned facilities for Glassworks, the Veterinary Medicine and Pharmacy, and One Health buildings, are also progressing.
SETU has engaged Building Design Partnership (BDP) as the design team for the Veterinary Medicine and Pharmacy facilities, spanning a total of 3,000 sqm.
The plans include more than 2,000 square metres of laboratory and teaching space at the Glassworks campus, alongside as a separate 1,040 square metre building at Teagasc Kildalton College in County Kilkenny.
Welcoming the appointment, Professor Veronica Campbell, President of SETU said, “These facilities are set to play a key role in supporting new and innovative programmes in Pharmacy and Veterinary Medicine at SETU.
"With the design team now in place, the project can move forward in the development process.”
In addition, SETU’s preliminary business case for its One Health building has been approved to move to the next stage of development.
This allows the project to move to the design, planning and procurement strategy phase.
The One Health facility will be the larger of the two academic buildings initially planned for the Glassworks campus.
Once complete, it will provide a major new academic and research base within SETU’s Faculty of Science and Computing, enhancing capacity in Science, Land Science and One Health.
The building will support undergraduate, postgraduate and research activity.
Prof. Campbell, added: “Together, these developments represent a transformative investment in SETU’s future and in the wider South East region. The development of the One Health building, alongside the new Veterinary Medicine and Pharmacy facilities, will significantly increase our research performance and strengthen regional capacity for high-impact education and interdisciplinary collaboration across human, animal, and environmental health.”
