The move by UCD's school of medicine from Earlsfort Terrace has been planned for years but is now nearing completion, writes Claire O'Connell.
Anyone who passed though the vast corridors of Earlsfort Terrace as a student will recall the building's elements of grandeur: with its cavernous halls, sweeping stairs and heavy wooden doors, the occasional tinge of formalin in the air giving a gentle reminder that this was also the home of University College Dublin's school of medicine.
But now, after three-quarters of a century of living at Earlsfort Terrace in Dublin's city centre, the school is completing its move to state-of-the-art teaching and research facilities at UCD's Belfield campus in Stillorgan.
The transition has been planned for a while - some members of staff bought houses near Belfield as far back as the 1960s in anticipation of working there, according to Dr Patrick Felle, a senior lecturer in healthcare informatics. And now that the school is finally completing the process of moving, it's a nostalgic time for staff and former students, particularly as many of the leading lights of Dublin and world medicine passed through the Terrace, he adds.
The medical school, which spent its first 75 years in Cecilia Street, moved to Earlsfort Terrace in the 1930s. Architectural features there included the "Victorian lanterns" or elevated glass roofs on the museum buildings that allowed good light for students carrying out anatomical dissections, but the Terrace's listed status has sometimes made it difficult to update facilities, explains Felle.
In contrast, the custom-built health sciences complex in Belfield can now provide medical students with cutting edge technologies. "I think when people move out there they will be delighted," says anatomy lecturer Dr Jason Last, who has been involved in co-ordinating the move.
"It's more high-tech because we can plan for it to be that way. For example, in the anatomy dissection room they are now installing plasma screens associated with each of the dissection tables, so we can show students videos of live anatomy endoscopies. We also have the ability to project from a surgical camera in the corner of the room."
The characteristic smells of a dissection room may also become less of a distraction.
"We have a downdraft system now that takes into account the lower ceilings in this new building. These types of technologies have improved," says Last.
Moving the anatomical material from one site to another presents its own challenges, he adds. For museum-type specimens they use a specialist moving service, and, as always, when dealing with donated bodies, maintaining dignity and respect is paramount.
"We have connections with funeral directors who are assisting us in bringing the body donors out to the new centre," says Last.
Felle admits to having mixed feelings about leaving Earlsfort Terrace, where he has spent most of his 30-year career to date.
"I absolutely love the building. I love the space and the Iveagh Gardens, where I have spent so many happy hours in the summer. It's a beautiful facility and I feel really fortunate and privileged to have spent so much of my working life here. But at the same time I am looking forward to moving out to Belfield, the facilities there are just wonderful."
And as the school settles into the new labs, simulated wards, lecture theatres and even dedicated prayer rooms at Belfield, the Earlsfort Terrace facilities, which are next to the National Concert Hall, will probably become a centre for the arts. This is much to the delight of the medical staff, says Felle.
"UCD doesn't own Earlsfort Terrace, it has a long-term lease on the building, so now it goes back to the Office of Public Works and it's our understanding that it's going to be used for arts-related activities. It's wonderful, it's great news.
"We always anticipated that it would go to a bank or one of the corporates like many big, highly prestigious buildings do, but to hear that is it going to continue to be effectively in public ownership certainly takes away some of the pain of moving out to the suburbs," he smiles.
Prof Conal Hooper, retired associate professor of anatomy in UCD, will tonight give a lecture for UCD medical graduates to mark the move from Earlsfort Terrace to Belfield. The history of anatomy in UCD will start at 8pm in the old anatomy lecture theatre at Earlsfort Terrace. For more details contact Deirdre Brophy at tel: 01 7167207 or deirdre.c.brophy@ucd.ie