Publications
2024 - Architectural Endeavours Beyond Borders. Perspective Journal RSUA, Volume 33 Issue 5- 2024.
John F. Kennedy once remarked, "The success of any school can be measured by the contribution the alumni make to our national life" so highlighting the important role our alumni make in shaping both society and their alma mater. Alumni are an inspiring asset for any university, serving as ambassadors who carry the institution's name and values into the professional world.
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This article spotlights three of Ulster University's Alumni, Catherine O'Neill, Vincent Mcllduff and Micah Jones who have all pursued impressive and ambitious career paths since graduating from Ulster University. Their journeys from local beginnings to national and international architectural platforms are not just a testament to their individual talents but also a reflection of the robust foundation provided by the architectural programme at Belfast School of Architecture...
2024 - Catherine O'Neill (née McCann) is a former member of the design team at Zaha Hadid Architects, where she contributed to the Yidan Centre In Shenzhen, China
The Yidan Centre in Shenzhen, China is a major new cultural and educational hub designed for the Chen Yidan Foundation and the Yidan Prize, organisations dedicated to promoting lifelong learning and innovation in education. The project, which has recently reached its full structural height, will house facilities for academic research, exhibitions, cultural events and collaborative activities, helping shape a new cultural quarter alongside the adjacent Qianhai Museum.
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Inspired by the canyons and valleys of surrounding landscapes, the design features a dramatic central outdoor “canyon” framed by terraces and balconies, landscaped gardens guiding visitors from the street, and a large oculus skylight that brings natural light deep into the building’s heart.
With sustainability embedded in its design including solar shading louvres, hybrid natural ventilation, photovoltaic panels and rainwater reuse, the centre aims for high environmental performance standards while fostering connectivity, interaction and community engagement in education and lifelong learning.
2024 - Catherine O'Neill (née McCann) is a former member of the design team at Zaha Hadid Architects, where she contributed to the Taikang Financial Centre, Wuhan, China
The Taikang Financial Centre is a major mixed-use development currently under construction in Wuhan, China, designed by Zaha Hadid Architects for the Taikang Insurance Group. It consists of three interconnected towers rising approximately 270 m, arranged in a circular composition that integrates with the Hankou Riverside Business District and nearby parks as part of Wuhan’s wider sponge city landscape strategy.
The complex will combine offices, apartments, hotel spaces, retail and dining amenities, and cultural and recreational facilities, creating an integrated vertical community designed to host more than 20,000 people daily. Public spaces include a central garden courtyard that rises as an urban canyon between the towers, skybridges with amenities at higher levels, and rooftop terraces with panoramic city and river views.
The design emphasises sustainability — targeting LEED Gold certification with natural daylighting, self-shading facades, efficient energy systems, and rainwater management — and is slated for completion around 2025.
2024 - Catherine O'Neill (née McCann), as part of Zaha Hadid Architects, contributed to the transformation of the historic Milan Vapa Paper Mill into the new Nikola Tesla Museum in Belgrade.
The project transforms Belgrade’s historic Milan Vapa Paper Mill into the new Nikola Tesla Museum, selected through an international design competition and developed in collaboration with Serbia’s Bureau Cube Partners.
It preserves the industrial heritage of the 1924 building while introducing a contemporary architectural vision inspired by Nikola Tesla’s research into magnetic fields and wireless energy transfer. The design features dynamic elliptical forms radiating from the site’s original chimney, a new circular entrance leading into a triple-height central atrium, and interconnected interior spaces for exhibitions, interactive displays, and immersive presentations including the Tesla Electronic Transformer Gallery.
Visitor amenities like a café, multipurpose hall, and rooftop restaurant are planned, along with a new Nikola Tesla Square, a public plaza designed with landscaped pathways and plazas that connect the museum to the Belgrade Waterfront and city infrastructure. The development also emphasises sustainability through passive design and renewable energy integration, aiming to create a cultural landmark that honours Tesla’s legacy while revitalising a key urban site.
2022 - Catherine O'Neill (née McCann) is a former member of the design team at Zaha Hadid Architects, where she contributed to the Odesa Expo 2030 Proposal
The project is a masterplan concept for Odesa Expo 2030; the first World Expo proposed for Eastern Europe focused on a flexible, sustainable exhibition campus. The design centres on four large central pavilions offering around 80,000 m² of exhibition space, with modular national pavilions that participating countries can customise using a kit‑of‑parts system and a digital configurator tool. Each module represents about 25 % of a standard pavilion’s area, letting nations create unique forms while keeping construction efficient and low‑carbon.
After the Expo, these modular structures are designed to be dismantled and either reused in Ukraine as civic buildings (such as schools, clinics, or community spaces) or transported back to their home countries, supporting long‑term legacy and community benefit.
The masterplan also includes public spaces, a main boulevard, and a coastal eco‑park, and integrates renewable energy and recycled materials to minimise environmental impact.
2022 - Catherine O'Neill (née McCann) is a former member of the design team at Zaha Hadid Architects, where she contributed to the Dnipro Metro Design, Ukraine
The project involves the design and construction of three new underground metro stations — Teatralna, Tsentralna and Muzeina — as part of a 4 km extension to the Dnipro Metro in Dnipro, Ukraine. Aimed at improving public transport connectivity between the city’s eastern districts, the centre and the Dnipro-Holovnyi railway terminus, the extension also helps reduce traffic congestion and offers easier access to parks and riverside recreational areas.
The design responds to Dnipro’s industrial heritage with sculptural welded steel entrance pavilions made from recycled local steel, set within new public plazas as recognisable architectural landmarks. While each station features a unique ticket hall, interior concourses and platform spaces share a unified spatial logic that prioritises intuitive circulation and passenger experience.
The stations are expected to open for service around 2025.
2018 - Catherine O'Neill (née McCann) is a former member of the design team at Zaha Hadid Architects, where she contributed to the Mercury Tower project in Malta.
Mercury Tower is a landmark mixed-use development in Paceville, St. Julian’s, Malta, designed by Zaha Hadid Architects and based on one of the last concept designs sketched by Dame Zaha Hadid before her death. The project reimagines the historic Mercury House site a derelict early 20th-century building by restoring its facades and integrating them into a bold, contemporary scheme that combines luxury residential apartments, a boutique hotel, retail spaces, and civic amenities.
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The main feature is a 31-storey tower that rises above the restored heritage base; its two vertically stacked volumes, lower residential floors and upper hotel floors rotate as they ascend to optimise views of the Mediterranean Sea and instill the form with a distinctive, dynamic silhouette. Between these volumes are transitional spaces including a dramatic hotel reception areas and an outdoor pool. At ground level, the development activates its urban context with a new public piazza framed by cafés, shops, water features, landscaped spaces, and a sculptural café pavilion, enhancing Paceville’s civic realm. Today Mercury Tower is one of Malta’s tallest buildings and a prominent contemporary architectural statement on the island’s east coast.
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2017 - Catherine O'Neill (née McCann) is a former member of the design team at Zaha Hadid Architects, where she contributed to the Samsung Exhibit, Milan Design Week
The collaboration between Zaha Hadid Architects and Samsung produced an immersive architectural installation titled “Unconfined” for Milan Design Week 2017. Designed to showcase the design philosophy of the Samsung Galaxy S8, the installation created a fluid, dynamic environment with floating curved screens and interactive digital elements inspired by the phone’s seamless form and technology.
Visitors moved through two experiential zones; a sensory, immersive space with digital graphics that react to movement, and a second area where the S8’s features could be explored blending architecture, technology and visual storytelling to highlight the unity of form and function.