19 April 2023
By Elaine Murphy
elaine@TheCork.ie
It’s been called Cork’s ugliest building in some quarters, but now it’s getting a €25 million injection
It has often been said that UCC’s Kane Building may be Cork’s ugliest building. Opinions differ on that jocular topic, but it appears things are about to change on campus as word of a massive investment has reached us today. A statement from Cork’s first University has announced funding for the Kane building.
UCC Statement begins:
The heart of science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) at University College Cork (UCC), the Kane Science building, will undergo significant redevelopment after receiving €25 million in funding today under the second round of Higher Education Strategic Investment Fund.
Opened in 1971 the Kane Science Building supports undergraduate and postgraduate education for approximately 1,500 students per year as well as world class research in areas such as Quantum Physics, Sustainable materials and research related to the biopharma sector. The redevelopment will facilitate the education of 300 more STEM students at undergraduate and postgraduate level per year through redeveloped and expanded state of the art teaching and research spaces.
The Kane Science building houses the Schools of Chemistry and Physics, which underpin STEM programmes for all scientists and engineers at UCC, and is also home to the Eureka Science Education Centre, which provides training facilities for all secondary School science teachers that study in UCC.
The funding awarded by the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science will amplify the critical contribution of the University and the College of Science, Engineering and Food Science to the regional and national economy, through enhanced STEM education and research.
For many decades, UCC has played a key role in provision of STEM graduates to sectors such as the Pharma and ICT sectors, which will be further enhanced by this development. The funding will also ensure the Kane building becomes more sustainable and energy efficient reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 51%, helping UCC achieve its 2030 carbon reduction targets and serving as an exemplar of how retrofitting can be deployed in publicly funded buildings and adapted to respond to climate mitigation measures.
UCC has recently published its five year strategy – Securing Our Future: UCC Strategic Plan 2023–2028 – the redevelopment of the Kane Science Building is a priority within this strategic plan.
File photo of Professor John O’Halloran, President, University College Cork. Photo By Tomas Tyner, UCC.
Commenting President of UCC, Professor John O’Halloran, stated
“This is wonderful news for STEM at UCC and for our region and national economy. The Kane building has seen many wonderful scientists and students work within it over many generations and this funding secures the future of a building which plays such a pivotal role in helping us develop excellent graduates and expand our world class research.”
“This investment into the Kane Building at UCC is of immense value both to the university and to the region as a whole” stated Professor Sarah Culloty, Head of the College of Science, Engineering and Food Science. “UCC STEM graduates help underpin Ireland’s Biotechnology, ICT and Pharma sector, with many of the world’s leading pharmaceutical companies present in Cork. The university provides a valuable knowledge base and talent pipeline for these industries with UCC graduates contributing to their success in Ireland and further afield”
END OF UCC STATEMENT WORDING.
Reaction in Cork to word of the investment has been positive. There is a humerous thread on reddit with comments from internet users: One says “I actually enjoyed its Soviet styled frontage during my time in college.” another comment says “Bits of the cladding on the outisde also falls off from time to time” and yet another person writes “It won prizes in the brief moment when brutalist architecture was hot”. Other commenters say the Kane Building it is not the ugliest building in Cork: “No way is Kane uglier than North Main Street car park” syas one person, while another shifts focus downtown saying “The building housing the passport office on the south mall is pretty ugly, inside and out.” and the 1980s red brick edifice by the river is referred to by another commenter who says “Merchants quay shopping centre is brutal looking imo, if ever there was a building which needs cladding”
Everyone is entitled to their opinion. We wish UCC well. If you want to know what else is happening at UCC then check out the news section of their website https://www.ucc.ie/en/news/
