Survey of London: The Bloomsbury campus
The first comprehensive account of UCL's architectural history and the evolution of its iconic London Bloomsbury campus.
By Colin Thom and Dr Amy Spencer (UCL Bartlett School of Architecture)
Since the construction of its iconic neoclassical building in Gower Street, UCL has been an increasingly influential presence in the capital’s Bloomsbury district, shaping the character of its built environment and acting as a magnet for other academic institutions. Over two hundred years UCL has expanded to form an extensive campus, its sprawling footprint and varied building stock reflecting growth in student numbers and advances in education, technology and culture.
Survey of London is a renowned series of volumes running from the 1890s to document the buildings of London. Having been part of UCL’s Bartlett School of Architecture since 2013, it is uniquely placed to offer the first comprehensive account of the university’s buildings and the evolution of its historic Bloomsbury campus.
This Survey of London monograph provides a new understanding of this significant estate in central London, bringing to light a complex and engaging architectural story with many facets that have been previously overlooked or neglected.
Book now available to buy in-store. £50 retail price, a special UCL Students’ Union shop price available for the bicentennial year.
The book is also available for free open access download via UCL Press.
Survey of London: The Bloomsbury Campus is now available in-store and online.
Get your copyColin Thom and Dr Amy Spencer are the lead authors for the Survey of London monograph, which is published by UCL Press. Colin is Director of the Survey of London at UCL’s Bartlett School of Architecture, where he also teaches architectural history and theory. Amy is a historian working on the Survey of London, and completed her doctorate on UCL’s architectural history from 1825 to 1939 in 2021.
They have collaborated on the research and writing with Survey of London colleagues, namely Dr Sarah Dowding, Dr Emily Mann, Dr Rebecca Preston and Dr Aileen Reid, and in-house illustrator, Helen Jones, who is preparing bespoke drawings and designing the entire book. Find out more about the Survey of London in this short film.
A grant from the Bartlett’s Architecture Research Fund has enabled them to commission Chris Redgrave, a specialist architectural photographer, to contribute to the monograph. The core team is working closely with UCL Special Collections, Archives & Records, UCL Art Museum and UCL Press.
