A major milestone has been reached in a €95 million campus expansion project at RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences, with the university celebrating the 'topping out' of its new education, research and engagement building at 118 St Stephen’s Green.

A ‘topping out' ceremony is a tradition in the construction industry to bestow good luck on a new building and is held when a structure has reached its maximum height. The ceremony was attended by the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Mr Patrick O’Donovan TD.  

The development at 118 St Stephen’s Green will become the new 'front door' of the RCSI campus and it will include a public engagement space aimed at enabling people to live long and healthy lives. A first of its kind in Ireland, the space will be located at the entrance to the new building and will see RCSI pioneer new forms of health-related public engagement, bridging the gap between medical research, professional expertise and public understanding, and empowering the community to make informed decisions about their health. 

The new facilities will enrich the student experience at RCSI and provide vital infrastructure for patient-centered health sciences research and innovation. The new building includes a physical link to RCSI’s award-winning academic building at 26 York Street, through an interconnecting bridge. This will provide additional and innovative space for the estimated 3,000 students and staff who visit the campus daily for study, work and extracurricular activities. 

The development will be home to the RCSI School of Population Health and the RCSI Graduate School of Healthcare Management. It will allow for the introduction of new learning communities and provide small group teaching spaces and flexible flat-floor teaching spaces, and provide a 50-square metre virtual reality surgical training space for the National Surgical Training Centre. 

Research and innovation

Another key purpose of the project is to enhance RCSI’s research and innovation activities, providing up to three floors of state-of-the-art laboratory, write-up and support facilities for existing and new research programmes and initiatives. 

Minister O’Donovan said: “I am delighted to be here today to mark this occasion and to celebrate the opening of this new state-of-the-art facility in St Stephen’s Green. This is an important new development, enhancing the student experience in world-class cutting-edge teaching and training spaces for science research and innovation. I wish RCSI, their students and staff the very best of luck in their new building.”

RCSI President Professor Laura Viani said: “This is a proud day for the RCSI community, and I commend everyone involved in reaching this important milestone. RCSI has been part of the St Stephen’s Green landscape since the early 1800s and today we move one step closer to opening our campus out onto St Stephen’s Green, for the benefit of the people of Dublin, our students, and our staff.”

Professor Cathal Kelly, Vice Chancellor, RCSI, said: “Our investment in this significant development at 118 St Stephen’s Green underscores our university's ambition to be a world leader in health sciences education, research and engagement.

“As Ireland’s only university dedicated entirely to health, and the highest ranked university in the world for its contribution to good health and well-being, the third UN Sustainable Development Goal, it is particularly significant that the project includes a new public engagement space which will involve people in meaningful dialogue about how to live long and healthy lives and improve health outcomes in Ireland,” added Professor Kelly.

118 St Stephen’s Green is supported by funding from the European Investment Bank and AIB. The project construction and design team include Henry J Lyons Architects, Linesight Quantity Surveyors, OCSC Structural Engineers, Axis Mechanical & Electrical Consultants and Bennett Construction Ltd.