22 Gordon Street
The Bartlett School of Architecture 2017
In early 2017, we moved back into our transformed home at 22 Gordon Street (formerly Wates House) on UCL’s Bloomsbury Campus. The £30 million refurbishment and extension, carried out by architects Hawkins\Brown as part of UCL’s Bloomsbury Campus Refurbishments project, provides additional space and an entirely new environment for the School. The new building has additional floors and an expansion to the south that includes an exquisitely crafted black steel stair. It contains superb new studios, new social and café areas, a contemporary exhibition space and expanded workshops. In line with UCL’s sustainability and environmental strategy, the concrete structure of the original Wates House – home of the School since the 1970s – has been retained. This has helped significantly reduce carbon emissions and landfill waste associated with the construction project. It has also allowed the building’s rich history to remain visible through a number of subtle features, such as the original blue and red handrails of the internal staircases. Alan Penn, Dean of the UCL Bartlett Faculty of the Built Environment, has described how four years of hard work have resulted in a “prized building for UCL,” which “introduces a new 362
generation of staff and students to the possibility of what can happen through effective collaboration”. Meanwhile, Euan Macdonald, partner at Hawkins\Brown, has spoken of how “as an institution, it has become better integrated into its context – more outward-looking and welcoming to the public”. The building has proved popular not only with students and staff, but also with the wider architectural community. It has already won a prestigious 2017 RIBA London Region Award, and has been shortlisted for the coveted 2017 AJ Building of the Year award. With its atmosphere of openness, spontaneity and collaboration, the new building is transforming how the School of Architecture works as cohesive body of over 900 students and 200 staff. This became apparent during the Open Crits in March 2017, which took full advantage of the new shared spaces to show off the exceptional quality of student work in a context of lively engagement and debate. Architect: Hawkins\Brown Contractor: Gilbert Ash
Image: 22 Gordon Street. Photo by Jack Hobhouse