Taoiseach Micheál Martin has opened a €43m enterprise block on the former Waterford Crystal manufacturing site.
The 80,000sq/ft Glassworks Building One is Ireland's first co-located university enterprise quarter and is expected to eventually house 800 employees.
The opening of the new Glassworks block comes almost two decades after the closure of the landmark Waterford Crystal manufacturing facility on the outskirts of Waterford City.
It is the first part of a 37-acre enterprise and innovation campus, located beside the South East Technological University’s (SETU) academic and research facilities, which is expected to have capacity for up to 6,000 employees.
"By bringing together cutting-edge enterprises and SETU side by side at Glassworks, this innovative development will help drive high-quality employment, economic growth, research and education in Waterford and across the south east region," the Taoiseach said.
The Glassworks campus aims to take inspiration from successful models as the University of Nottingham’s Innovation Park and the Cortex Innovation District in St Louis, Missouri.
The first commercial building has been developed by a joint venture formed between the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF) and Frisby, the Waterford-based developers and is expected to be more than 50% let by next month.
A developing partnership with the university has influenced leading clinical eye care service providers Veonet Ireland to open a day hospital unit in the Glassworks building.
SETU is at the planning stage for a new course in optometry.
"As an international business, we engage in clinical research and surgical training and it is very important that we are embedded into the optometry ecosystem," said Veonet Ireland CEO Frank Doheny.
"We are in discussions with SETU on how we can partner in the areas of training and research.
"Glassworks will be a space that links education, research, industry and clinical practice.
"As an example, we often have to hire clinical optometrists from the UK, and we hope to offer our network to assist in training Irish students in the discipline."
The Department of Health has highlighted a need for a 63% annual increase in optometry student places in Ireland by 2030.
SETU’s Nutrition Research Centre Ireland has also led the way in research into nutrition, and eye and brain function.
The 80,000sq/ft Building One is Waterford’s first purpose-built, BER A3 rated office building that meets LEED Gold and WiredScore Gold standards.
Planning permission has also been granted for a 582-student bed development on adjacent lands.
SETU President Professor Veronica Campbell said Glassworks will be a "game changer" for the southeast region.
"Designed to transform collaboration between academia and enterprise, it will significantly elevate the region’s innovation capability, creating the space, energy, and opportunity for partnership on a scale not previously possible," she said.
"By bringing students, researchers, entrepreneurs, and multinationals together in one place, the campus will strengthen the South East’s already vibrant innovation network and provide a powerful launchpad for the next generation of ground-breaking ideas to be realised."
Frisby director Noel Frisby Jnr said that this is a place where research, creativity and business ambition can thrive and where the regional economy will continue to grow.
ISIF is committed to backing transformational projects in Ireland’s regional cities, and Glassworks is a good example of that ambition, according to Sarah Hickey, Senior Investment Director, ISIF.
"The opening of Building One will strengthen the capacity of Waterford and the wider region for high-value jobs, research and collaboration for many years to come," she said.
"Building One reflects ISIF’s ability to invest commercially whilst supporting long-term regional development.
"Its completion contributes to the development of a university-enterprise ecosystem that will support innovation and employment across the south-east."
Over the coming years, there is potential for the development of further purpose-built buildings to accommodate businesses, researchers and students, all meeting the same stringent sustainability standards as Building One.
