On the day we welcomed the University’s President and Provost, Professor Michael Arthur, to see some of the cutting-edge new facilities in use by UCL at Here East in Stratford, East London, The Architects’ Journal announced that Hawkins\Brown had won the prestigious annual award for their retrofit of the former Olympic International Broadcast Centre.
Here East desrcribed as ‘bold, brave and transformational’ by AJ judges
Hawkins\Brown fought off stiff competition from other high-profile practices and projects around the world to scoop the top prize at the AJ100 ceremony, which took place at The Tower of London on Wednesday 13 June. Other contenders included Zaha Hadid Architects, Foster + Partners and Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios.
The panel of 13 judges – comprised of academics, critics, practising architects and other industry professionals – praised Here East as ‘fresh and visionary’ and ‘a highly intelligent reuse and reinvention of an existing building’.
UCL Provost sees the highlights of UCL at Here East’s cutting-edge testing and robotics facilities
Guided by Professor Alan Penn, Dean of The Bartlett, and Professor Nigel Titchener-Hooker, Executive Dean of the Faculty of Engineering Sciences, President and Provost Michael Arthur was shown some of the world-class equipment now in use at Here East for testing, prototyping, 3D-modelling and other advanced research activites. Facilities visited on the tour included:
- Studio spaces for the Engineering and Architectural Design MEng and Design for Manufacture MArch programmes
- The Artificial Sky Lab (Bartlett lighting simulator), run by the UCL Institute for Environmental Design and Engineering (The Bartlett)
- B-made student workshop and fabrication facilities
- The Mobile Heritage Lab, operated by the UCL Institute for Sustainable Heritage (The Bartlett)
- Robotic testing and scanning, including testing of wing components for the aeronautics industry
- Remote robotic surgery technology being developed by UCL’s Centre for Medical Image Computing (CMIC)
- Drones for use in radioactive environments and virtual reality for use with robots (Computer Science doctoral research projects)
- UCL’s Global Disability Innovation Hub (GDI)
- Studio space for the Design for Performance and Interaction MArch from the Bartlett School of Architecture
- The soon-to-open offices of The Bartlett’s new Real Estate Insitute (BREI)
As work continues to bring even more research and testing facilties into operation at Here East, we look forward to welcoming increasing numbers of students in the future. Meanwhile, plans for the huge new UCL East campus, also on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, are well underway, with the first phase expected to open in 2021.
Commenting on the possibilities offered by UCL at Here East, Professor Alan Penn said:
The Here East facilities are all about challenging boundaries – between disciplines, faculties and departments, and practices and pedagogies. We have brought together parts of UCL that research the way that technologies are changing what people can do.We are looking at the human senses and capabilities as these are modified by technology and the environment: from light and sound to the smell of heritage; from interactive structures and tele-robotics to performative materials; and from the value of design and placemaking to sustainable communities. Here East is a 21st-century alchemist's crucible.
More information
- Read about the AJ100 Building of the Year Award on the AJ website
- Visit the UCL at Here East website
- Find out more about the wider Here East project
