The GDA has recently submitted a planning application to Dublin City Council for works to the oldest building at Grangegorman – the Lower House. The building was designed by Francis Johnston, the architect who designed the GPO, and also the Grangegorman Clock Tower building.
The Lower House first opened in 1814 as the Richmond Lunatic Asylum and was the largest and oldest public psychiatric hospital in the country. All that remains today is the south range of the original four and is one of the Grangegorman site’s protected structures. The building is located in the south-eastern part of the site, off Fitzwilliam Place and Morning Star Avenue.
These works will bring this long unused building back into use for a variety of uses for TU Dublin (formerly DIT). These will include music practice rooms, student union offices, a restaurant and coffee shop, some sport and recreation activities (exercise studios, dance studio) and general student support services.
You can view the plans for the building in the Dublin City Council office at Wood Quay or on their website here using the planning ref: GSDZ2529/19. The current programme aims to have the Lower House in use for September 2020 when the next students move to Grangegorman.
Check out this short video flyover of the Lower House as it is now.
