URBAN EXPRESSION AND THE GRAND CANAL INNOVATION DISTRICT
The Innovation Hub will provide space for entrepreneurs, start-ups and innovation teams from large corporates. It will be the venue for organised weekly events to bring together academics, start-ups, the local community and the enterprise community, animating and programming the Grand Canal Innovation District.
Trinity has submitted the planning application with a view to having the new space fully operational in the first quarter of 2022. The Grand Canal Innovation District, the plan for which received Cabinet approval in January 2020, will see the clustering of research institutes, entrepreneurs and educational institutions, high growth companies and tech and creative start-ups in a concentrated urban environment.
This combination of stakeholders working together will act as a magnet for research and will drive innovation, contributing to Ireland’s economic recovery in the years ahead. Trinity will act as the anchor tenant in the centre of the District providing a connection to a talent pipeline of graduates, an innovation engine and a social and cultural centre.
The first phase of the district incorporates the following elements-
A 5,500 square metre Innovation Hub with space for early-stage start-ups, research-active corporates, a meeting space to activate the innovation community in Dublin and a programme of activities for people who work and live in the local community.
A new public square with café and seating, located on what is currently a car park.
The Innovation Hub will incorporate the landmark tower located on the campus.
Located on the former site of L Connaughton & Sons Ltd in Grand Canal Dock, the Innovation Hub is one of several planned developments in the District, which will be transformed over the next ten years. The development is supported by two government grants – The Regional Enterprise Development Fund as enabled by Enterprise Ireland and the Urban Regeneration Development Fund as part of Project Ireland 2040.
VERY LOW RAILWAY BRIDGE AT BOSTON SIDINGS[ GRAND CANAL QUAY – CLANWILLIAM TERRACE]
I had not noticed until day that traffic under this bridge is limited to cyclists/motorbikes and pedestrians.
Many years ago a friend was on his way home from school and saw a double deck bus crash into this bridge. We never found out why the driver decide that he could fit under the bridge. Some of the boys at school had mentioned that the driver who was well known in the area usually drove a single deck bus and that he often took a unapproved shortcut back, at the end of the day, to the nearby garage [maybe it was nothing more than an urban myth]. Also, looking at the bridge today I am fairly confident that no type of bus could every have passed under this bridge.
One side of the bridge is Grand Canal Quay while the other side is Clanwilliam Terrace. The Malting Tower is located at the bridge and it usually incorporated a restaurant [I say usually because there have been a number of different restaurants over the years].
I know very little about the Malting Tower other than it was built in 1860 and restored in 2002. Also,It was occupied by volunteers during the Easter Rising.
To the best of my knowledge the construction site to be seen in some of my photographs is known as Boston Sidings having frontage on to Macken Street and Grand Canal Quay/Clanwilliam Terrace and is likely to accommodate an office block of ten storeys.
You must be logged in to post a comment.