Construction is set to begin on a new innovation hub for creative technology startups and entrepreneurs at GMIT’s Cluain Mhuire campus in the second half of 2022, following the approval of planning permission for the project.
The hub, which will be managed by CREW, a new collaborative not-for-profit company established by GMIT, the Western Development Commission, and Galway Film Centre, is expected to open in summer 2023.
The CREW Innovation Hub will provide space for 180 entrepreneurs, startups, and new FDI companies in the CreaTech sector. In addition it is designed as a hub and event space which will cater for training, networking, and business events which will bring together startups, the creative enterprise sector, students, academics, and the local community. The overall aim is to foster creative industry business growth and job creation, along with core development, enhancement, and investment in the sector.
The CREW board, led by chief executive Niamh Costello, have worked hand in hand with Cronin Architects to design and create a new and unique two-storey building which will be sustainable in its design and energy, while complementing the existing historic Cluain Mhuire campus buildings. Set to the front of the GMIT campus on the green, tree lined space along the Wellpark Road, the new CREW Innovation Hub is designed to reveal itself through the existing trees on entering the site. Enhancing the existing green space at GMIT Cluain Mhuire, it will also improve pedestrianisation though the re-establishment of a historic secondary entrance to the front of existing buildings via pedestrian route from the Wellpark Road.
The two storey stand-alone building will provide flexible multi-unit co-working space for companies in the creative technology sector.
The building will have a strong focus on sustainability, and is orientated to maximize the advantage of passive solar gain exceeding present standards. CREW envisages that credentials will include a very high performing building envelope, high airtightness standards, greenscaping, and permeable hardscaping. Rainwater harvesting, renewal heating, and cooling power are all part of the development, and a key objective of the design process is to provide an ultra-low carbon development. The building and site will also avail of adjacent public transport including the intended future bus corridor and dedicated cycle lane to the Wellpark Road, which is currently under the Galway Transport Strategy (GTS ).
“Investment in innovation is critical to ensure the future competitiveness of the creative industries sector in the west of Ireland,” said Niamh Costello, CEO of CREW. “The region already has a cluster of creative technology and digital entrepreneurs. CREW will bring those companies closer together to create an enterprise culture that encourages entrepreneurs to create new companies that will either become world players themselves or form the basis for expansion of existing companies. This early activation centre will play a critical role in delivering on this vision.
“The on-campus innovation hub will provide important collaboration space and opportunities for entrepreneurs, researchers, startups, and corporate innovation teams to develop new research and innovative approaches to developing the creative industries in the region and identifying new opportunities, for the benefit of society and the economy.”
The approved planning permission for the CREW Innovation Hub brings the organisation’s first year in operation to an exciting end. It is currently in the midst of a successful recruitment campaign for CREW LABS - an incubator programme for early-stage startups in creative digital industries, in partnership with GMIT.
The CREW LAB incubation programme is designed to support early-stage creative digital entrepreneurs across the creative industries to include those in the TV, film, virtual production, games, animation, content development, digital arts, immersive technologies, digital design, and creative technology. The incubation programme will form a critical part of the support ecosystem required by screen industries in the region to further develop the west of Ireland as a hub for creative technology and content creation.
CREW is collaboration between GMIT, the Western Development Commission, and Galway Film Centre, and is currently funded by Enterprise Ireland’s Regional Enterprise Development Fund which will support the development of creative digital enterprises, providing highly skilled jobs, distributed across the Atlantic Economic Corridor (AEC ) and Údarás GTEIC hub network, contributing to economic growth in the region.
CREW’s board of directors includes Dr Paddy Tobin, head of the GMIT School of Design and Creative Arts, Gillian Buckley, investment manager at Western Development Commission, and Alan Duggan, manager of Galway Film Centre, along with TG4’s director general Alan Esslemont, and is chaired by Bernard Kirk, CEO, Camden Education Trust.
For more information and news on CREW’s developments, creative programmes, and supports see www.crewdigital.ie or follow @crewdigital1 on all social media platforms.
