February Minister Kyne to officially open new €35million Student Accommodation at NUI Galway

State-of-the-art 429 bed student residence increases accommodation availability on campus

Minister Seán Kyne T.D., Minister of State for the Irish Language, the Gaeltacht and the Islands and Government Chief Whip, will today (Friday, 8 February) officially open the €35million state-of-the-art student residence, Goldcrest Village. Goldcrest Village, or Baile an Chíorbhuí, represents the first of two new purpose-built, on-campus student residences at NUI Galway. The 429-bed residence is located beside the existing, 764-bed residence, Corrib Village at North Campus.

In September 2018, the first residents of NUI Galway’s newest campus accommodation complex moved into ‘Goldcrest Village’, named after the smallest bird in Ireland which can be spotted around the parkland campus.

Speaking at the opening, Minister Kyne said: “The benefits of this new student accommodation will be felt far and wide. It provides students with quality, modern accommodation that will enable them to experience life on campus. It helps to ensure more accommodation for other households in Galway and it adds to the vibrancy of our city and county. I’m certain Goldcrest Village will provide comfortable and secure accommodation for students of NUI Galway for many years to come.” 

Funded by NUI Galway with loan finance from the European Investment Bank (EIB), the residence has enhanced the provision of on-campus accommodation in response to the economic pressures in the housing sector and specifically the direct impact to third-level students. Goldcrest Village has also just been shortlisted for the Irish Construction Excellence Awards 2019 in the Commercial €10m + category.

Speaking ahead of the launch, NUI Galway President, Professor Ciarán Ó hÓgartaigh said: “The quality of our student experience is at the very core of our mission as a university.  With the development of Goldcrest Village, an additional 429 students now live on campus in comfort and safety.  This new home for our students represents a strategic response by NUI Galway to demand for housing in Galway and the need to provide on-campus student accommodation for our students, while also taking pressure off the Galway housing market.

We look forward to the development of the second phase of this two-phase student accommodation project which it’s anticipated will be available in 2021 and provide an additional 680 places for our students on campus, bringing to almost 2,000 the numbers of students who reside on our campus.  We also join with our students in calling on our Government to continue to ensure equity and fairness in the housing market.”

Goldcrest Village

Goldcrest Village provides 12,500m² of top quality student accommodation for 429 students and is comprised of 76 apartments, grouped around landscaped courtyards, each apartment containing four, five or six en-suite bedrooms and a kitchen/living area. All bedrooms have study desks and high-capacity Wifi, communal facilities, a 24-hour reception, a large common room area, a laundrette, and secure bicycle storage.

Goldcrest Village provides nine (9) wheelchair accessible bedrooms, located on the ground-floor across all four blocks.  These accessible bedrooms have been designed according to best practice in wheelchair housing design to ensure they are totally accessible for disabled users. In addition, four disabled parking spaces have been provided.

The project was designed by award winning Coady Architects in partnership with the UK firm Feildin Clegg Brady Studios and the construction was completed by Galway-based contracting firm J.J. Rhatigan & Co.

ENDS