Office of the Director

Director of Buildings and Estates: Mr. Mark Poland

Mark leads a team of professionals involved in the management of the University’s estate.  The overall estate comprises of 266,000 m² of space, 80 hectares of grounds and property and approximately 130 individual buildings sited at over 20 locations.

The mission of the Buildings and Estates Office is "to provide an integrated and efficient range of facilities services which enhance the estate and support the University’s objectives".  The Office provides a diverse range of facilities management services including estates master planning, capital development, property portfolio management, buildings maintenance, grounds and landscape management, utilities and energy management, minor works projects, security services, event support, postal services, cleaning, room bookings, heritage services etc. He has overseen the significant expansion of the University estate over the last 25 years as part of an ambitious development programme grounded in the University Masterplan. The University is currently going through a further ambitious €300m. capital development programme with a wide range of exciting academic and support facilities.  UCC was the first University in the world to be awarded the Green Flag by FEE and the first University to achieve ISO 50,000 accreditation.  He is co-chair of  UCC’s Green Forum with the University consistently ranked among the world’s most sustainable campuses. He is a Chartered Civil Environmental Engineer and Fellow of Engineers Ireland.  He is a UCC graduate and prior to joining UCC gained significant experience in Ireland and the United Kingdom as a Consulting Engineer and Project Manager on commercial and industrial projects.       He holds a Diploma in Company Direction from the Institute of Directors.  

The management of the Buildings and Estates office is the responsibility of the Director of Buildings and Estates. Each unit within the Office has its management structure as follows: 

Mark Poland (Director of Buildings and Estates)

Tim Cronin (Capital Projects Officer)

Paul Prendergast (Buildings Officer) 

Niamh McGettrick (Administrative Manager)

Pat Cotter (General Services Officer)

Eamonn Connaughton (Facilities Manager Western Campus)

The management team above operates to co-ordinate the activities of each individual area.

These functions have the support of administration and secretarial functions, which are co-ordinated by an Administrative Manager, Niamh McGettrick-Cronin.

Together with the Capital Projects Officer, the Director is responsible for the overall strategic physical development of the University. This strategic planning is guided by the Physical Development Plan approved by the Buildings Committee and Govering body in June 2004. This plan is supported by strategic plans for conservation of the University's physical and natural assets (Conservation Plan) and a strategy for sustainble commuting (Commuter Plan). The Director of Buildings & Estates is responsible for the administration of space allocation in the University. The University building stock consists of 155,000m2 of buildings across 120 individual properties and 130 acres of land.

Director's Office Staff