UCL Student Centre

For decades, this former Second World War bombsite lay empty on Gordon Street, save for temporary teaching structures. Expectations for what would become of UCL’s last vacant Bloomsbury site were more than met when the Student Centre was unveiled in 2019. The £67.4 million building, funded by investment from UCL and generous UCL alumni and friends, provides learning and social spaces as well as a new home for Jeremy Bentham’s Auto-Icon. Its exceptional sustainability performance was confirmed when the centre achieved a BREEAM ‘Outstanding’ rating.

22 Gordon Street (formerly Wates House)

Thousands of architects have learned their craft at 22 Gordon Street, the home of The Bartlett School of Architecture since the 1970s. But with student numbers rising, the building was radically expanded in 2016 to provide facilities for 1,000 students and staff. Retaining the building’s original concrete structure significantly reduced the project’s environmental impact, as well as adding character to the design.

Bentham House

The Faculty of Laws first moved into Bentham House in December 1965, extending next door into Hilliel House in 2001 to accommodate growing student numbers. In October 2014, UCL embarked on an £18.5 million redevelopment project to extend and enhance the building.

Bentham House was replanned to create additional space, improving accessibility and integrating all existing parts of the faculty. These crucial developments would not have been possible without the generosity and continuing support of alumni, donors and sponsors, particularly Winston Chu (UCL Law 1960) for the Cissy Chu Common Room, the late Sir Bernard Schreier for the Gideon Schreier Wing, and the late Vincent Cheung (UCL Law 1965) for the Denys Holland Lecture Theatre.

Sainsbury Wellcome Centre

The Sainsbury Wellcome Centre for Neural Circuits and Behaviour provides an unparalleled environment for experimental research. The centre is a partnership between UCL Neuroscience, the Wellcome Trust and the Gatsby Charitable Foundation. Since 2016, it has occupied the Fitzrovia site that previously housed the Windeyer Building, where the UCL Division of Infection & Immunity (which can now be found in the Cruciform Building) once resided.

One Canada Square

The UK’s third-tallest building has been home to UCL School of Management since 2016. Located on the 38th floor of the landmark skyscraper in London’s Canary Wharf, the school recently expanded into the 50th floor due to a rapidly growing student population. The new space has been fitted to the highest environmental standards, with 45% of the project expenditure spent with companies based in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. Meanwhile, waste materials from reconfiguring the space were reused, recycled or donated to local charities.

Print Room

Alumni who graduated before 2008 are often pleasantly surprised when walking through the Medical Sciences tunnel to come across the Print Room Café. As its name suggests, the café occupies premises that previously housed a printing facility in the basement of the Wilkins Building. It has been completely refurbished, and an entrance has been opened up into the back quadrangle, otherwise known as South Junction. With its ivy-covered frontage, it’s a hotspot for Instagram photos.

Wilkins Terrace

Previously the unloved site of the Physics Service Yard, in 2017 the Wilkins Terrace was transformed into a new public open space. The redevelopment included a major extension and refurbishment of the Refectory and the donor-wall art installation, which celebrates the enormous role that philanthropy plays in supporting UCL’s community.

In progress: Grays Inn Road

It’s all change at 256 Grays Inn Road. The UCL Eastman Dental Institute (EDI) has moved to new premises, creating space for a new flagship centre for UCL Neuroscience. The pioneering facility, due to be completed in 2024 (artist’s impression, below left), will bring practice and research under one roof to support the development of cutting-edge treatment geared towards patients’ needs. The new space will dramatically boost the way UCL’s academic and clinical teams work with industry, health and social-care providers. Meanwhile, the EDI has moved to the Rockefeller Building on University Street. Its state-of-the art teaching and research facilities were formally opened by Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal in May 2021.

In progress: UCL East

UCL is looking to east London to build on the university’s progressive history, positive impact and disruptive spirit. A brand-new campus at the Olympic Park in Stratford will bring together around 260 UCL academics, 4,000 students, local communities and industry to solve the biggest challenges affecting people’s lives and the planet – today and into the future. Opening from 2022, UCL East will offer the next generation of disruptive thinkers a unique studying, living and working environment where cross-disciplinary research can thrive.