The Rubrics, Residential building in Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland.
The Rubrics is a red-brick residential building on the grounds of Trinity College Dublin, Ireland, featuring tall hexagonal chimneys and Dutch-style facade details. It sits along Library Square, the historic central courtyard of the campus, and continues to house student accommodation.
The building was constructed around 1700 and is the oldest surviving structure at Trinity College Dublin. As the rest of the original Library Square buildings were demolished and replaced over the following centuries, it remained standing as the only one from that first phase of construction.
The name "The Rubrics" comes from the Latin word for red, referring to the building's brick exterior. Walking past it on campus, visitors often notice how it stands apart from the grey stone of later college buildings nearby.
The Rubrics sits inside the Trinity College campus and is easy to reach on foot from the main entrance on Dame Street. Since it is still used as student housing, the interior is not open to the public, but the exterior is clearly visible from the Library Square courtyard.
During a renovation in the 1970s, it was discovered that the building's brick facade had originally been plastered over, meaning the red exterior seen today was not the original appearance. The decision to strip the plaster and expose the bare brick changed the look of the building in a lasting way.
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