The online architecture news site WorldArchitectureNews.com this week published a news story about the recent transformation of UCL Faculty of Laws’ Bentham House.
The article focusses on the integration of the Grade II listed Bentham House, the adjacent mid-20th century Gideon Schreier Wing by Richard Seifert, and new, built-for-purpose spaces for socialising, teaching and study.
Images of the redevelopment show the Portland stone façade which is in the Georgian style, as well as the interior of the student hub incorporating the refurbished Cissy Chu room and atrium social and study spaces.
Also included are images of the new Gideon Schreier Lecture Theatre, part of the almost 1000 m2 of new floor space, and the historic Moot Court.
The article includes quotes about the redevelopment from key Faculty staff, including Professor Piet Eeckhout, Dean of the UCL Faculty of Laws, and Professor Dame Hazel Genn, Project Sponsor and former Dean of UCL Faculty of Laws.
Professor Eeckhout is quoted:
‘I am absolutely thrilled to have had the pleasure to welcome the Faculty back home to Bentham House. UCL Laws has, at long last, a home fit for our world-leading research, teaching and social enterprise. The project has given the Faculty more than a building: it’s given us an inspiring environment in which our whole community can come together. I look forward to seeing what the future holds for UCL Laws in Bentham House’.
Professor Genn is quoted:
‘At the very core of the vision for redeveloping Bentham House has always been how the building will support, inspire and motivate the world-class teaching and thriving research culture within UCL Laws.
The highly creative plans Levitt Bernstein produced for the building have seamlessly married the much-loved traditional spaces with bright, modern facilities, giving our Faculty a home that reflects and respects its heritage, while also supporting and driving its forward-thinking, global agenda.
It has been such an immense pleasure to lead the re-development from inception to completion, and I look forward to seeing the possibilities Bentham House provides for generations to come’.
The redeveloped Bentham House was officially opened on 25th June 2018, with tours and speeches from Professor Eeckhout and Professor Genn, as well as from the Rt Hon. Baroness Hale, President of the Supreme Court of the UK, Matthew Goulcher, Managing Director of the project architect’s Levitt Bernstein, and Professor Michael Arthur, President and Provost of UCL.
The article also describes the recent refurbishment of UCL’s Kathleen Lonsdale Building in Gower Place, home to the UCL Faculty of Mathematical & Physical Sciences.