Emma Curley
Architecture
Urban design
Facilitation

Digital Hub Vision Plan

Emma Curley as part of M Ó LA was commissioned to produce a Vision Plan for The Digital Hub, which would set out a framework describing how the Digital Hub will be developed as a centre of global excellence in research and development for digitally related enterprises.

The core development of the Digital Hub is located a ten minute walk from the city centre within the historic Liberties area of Dublin City. The aim of the Digital Hub is to create “a community of people – artists, researchers, educators, technologists, entrepreneurs and consumers, all working together to create innovative and successful digital media products and services which support their future.” The Liberties, located just outside the western fringe of the medieval city, was vital as an industrial centre. Indeed, the Liberties was the first, and for a time the only, industrial suburb of the city and included the Guinness St Jame’s Gate Brewery. There is a rich history of entrepreneurialism and innovation within the area due to The Liberties’ long established Market Trading tradition.

The project aim is to reinforce and introduce these traditions into the 21st Century with the establishment of the Digital Hub. The design of a quality environment is considered essential in regenerating the area and attracting people to this new realm. Integrated into this design agenda, the Digital Hub Vision Plan incorporates innovative ideas to improve upon existing infrastructure—transport, social, physical—and contribute to a sustainable, urban environment incorporating a mix of uses including research and development, residential, cultural and educational.