On Friday the 12th of June 2020, Queens University Belfast MArch 1 students presented this semester’s architectural design proposals for the future of the Seán McDermott Street site back to several members of the Open Heart City Collective: Associate Professor Katherine O’Donnell, Professor Hugh Campbell, Dr Maeve’ O’Rourke and Professor Gary Boyd. Guest reviewers included Dr Sarah A Lappin, Head of Architecture at Queen’s University Belfast and Mary Harney, a survivor of an industrial school and Mother & Baby Home, an experienced social justice advocate, a current member of the Department of Children and Youth Affairs’ Collaborative Forum, and a current LLM candidate at the Irish Centre for Human Rights at NUI Galway. Dún-na-dTuar, plattenbaustudio, Denise Murray and members of CoLab81-7 also joined for the evening.

QUB MArch Studio 5 this semester ran in parallel to and was supported by the MArch 1 Studio in the University College Dublin. Some of the students’ proposed designs include an auditorium and café, a national archive with reading rooms, community gardens and market, a nursery school, and a theatre. A recording of the evening has now been shared publicly on Open Heart City’s YouTube channel so all can listen to the students discuss their designs along with insightful and inspiring comments from reviewers, see below: