UCL benefits
The main challenge ahead for UCL is that we are constrained in our central London location in meeting the demand for suitable space to support the development of world-class teaching and research.
The opportunity in Stratford would enable us to address several major institutional challenges:
1. Bloomsbury is reaching capacity
UCL does not have the capacity to locate major new activity in Bloomsbury (e.g. in response to philanthropic initiatives or major research funding), even with the rationalisation envisaged in the Masterplan. If student headcount growth continues on trend, Bloomsbury will have reached capacity five years from now.
We also need to create residential accommodation for students and their
families, staff and collaborators. This is currently not feasible at
Bloomsbury.
2. A second location must be on a par with Bloomsbury and more than just a satellite
A second location must not merely be overspill from Bloomsbury. All members of the university – staff and students – must find benefits in both locations. Facilities that are required to meet 21st century needs, but which are not currently available in UCL’s
estate, might be installed in either Bloomsbury or the new location according to the best match of requirements and opportunity.
The Academic Stakeholders Group's ideas are still evolving at this stage, but it is envisaged that the development in Stratford will have space for research and development, large-scale experimentation and prototyping and manufacturing.
3. We need to create new types of space that help to cross-fertilise disciplines
We need to scale new heights in exploration and discovery. 21st century research and teaching demands closer ways of working, which are constrained by the current estate. We need spaces with flexible form and function to inspire and enable multiple disciplines to work simultaneously and in collaboration in both research and teaching. UCL Stratford will be interdisciplinary to its core with multiple faculties represented onsite.
4. We need to build on our collaboration with businesses and entrepreneurs
We must enhance our innovative approach by developing an environment and facilities that enable us to partner with existing businesses and start-up companies.
The clustering of high-value, high-tech businesses around a university campus is a well observed global phenomenon (e.g. Stanford and Silicon Valley, the Biotech cluster around Oxford, Cambridge and Silicon Fen) and Newham, with a UCL presence, would have in place many of the essential characteristics in terms of intellectual capital, transport links and development opportunities.
We will also be able to extend entrepreneurial activity in the community, such as our ‘Citrus Saturday’ initiative, which, in
2011, brought together UCL students and
11–14 year-old pupils in Camden for a two-week programme of skill
development including budgeting, goal setting and marketing.
5. We need to widen participation
Despite UCL’s radical past, in some senses it is perceived now as an elite environment. A new location offers the chance to reconnect with our progressive past and re-articulate our impact on, and responsibilities to, the communities we serve.
