UNIVERSITY College Cork (UCC) has been given the green light for an extension of its Granary Theatre.

The application, lodged in June with Cork City Council, sought permission for the demolition of the existing two-storey south entrance porch to the theatre and the construction of a two-storey extension to the south of the existing building located on Dyke Parade.

The extension will see an entrance foyer, store, and accessible dressing room at ground-floor level with a foyer, corridor, and dressing rooms at first-floor level and signage on the south elevation.

Other site works including the reconfiguration of the existing courtyard are also to be carried out.

In the design statement accompanying the application, it stated that the Granary Theatre was constructed in the mid-1990s and has played “a key role in the cultural development at UCC and in the wider city”.

“Theatres are now interdisciplinary species incorporating live performances of all kinds, such as theatre, music, and dance and digital media (AR/VR), digital visual design, fine art, makerspace practices.

“The Granary Theatre’s facilities need to be fully inclusive. The control room, dressing rooms, technical rooms, and lighting gantries all need to be accessible to persons with disabilities.

“This is not the case at present and the proposed extension to the south of the building is designed to be accessible to all,” the statement continued.

Ten routine conditions are attached to Cork City Council’s approval of the extension.

The grant of conditional planning for the works to the theatre comes as last month UCC was also given the green light to extend the Mardyke Arena.

That development will see an extension to the northeast of the facility to provide a single-storey strength and conditioning gym.

It will provide a dedicated squad/athlete strength and conditioning gym to meet the needs of all UCC focus teams and sports, all UCC Quercus sports scholarship students, and international and Olympic athletes attending the college.

The extension is also aimed at meeting a number of other objectives, including maximising opportunities for research and innovation projects, including athlete performance, coaching, and strength and conditioning, and developing a centre of excellence in the field of sports and conditioning workshops.