£1m investment to maintain inspiring learning spaces
30 November 2016
UCL Library Services and UCL Estates are delighted to announce, that we will be investing £1 million this academic year, to develop new learning spaces and enhance existing ones as part of our commitment to putting our users' experience first.

Following
a formal bidding process, the UCL Central Estates Strategy Board approved
Library Services' proposals and awarded £830k to develop its spaces, with
UCL Library Services committing a further £200K. The proposal will create an extra 91 seats
for study.
Improvement projects will run across a number of the 18 site libraries located across London, which are all available to be used by
UCL students and staff. The addition of power to desks in the UCL Institute
of Education Library, in particular, will ensure that all library study spaces
provide power and wi-fi as standard, allowing users to work for as long as they
wish, rather than until their device's batteries run out.
More study spaces
Benjamin Meunier, Assistant Director
of UCL Library Services said, "I am delighted that the
Central Estate Strategy Board approved the full set of proposals from Library
Services. This enables us to take action now and improve the number of study
spaces available while we build the New
Student Centre.
"The new centre, which is part of the Transforming UCL project, will add 1,000 cutting-edge learning spaces at the heart of the Bloomsbury campus in early 2019. This is all part of our commitment to provide an excellent user experience and to maintain inspiring learning spaces where students can engage with research at UCL.
"We are already working to complete the first of these projects, refurbishing the ground floor of the UCL Science Library, by February 2017 in order to provide 21 new study spaces and establish a new combined ISD and Library HelpDesk."
Completed
refurbishment projects in Library Services have received praise from users.
Speaking about the Research Grid in the Science Library, Naveed Khan, a former MSc Global Health & Development
student said, "My favourite [library] spot was in the new postgraduate suite in
the Science Library. I found this private office like room and it was brand
new, out of the way, soundproof, and with tea and coffee facilities right next
door - what more do you want?!"
Another project Library Services are currently working on with ISD and Estates is a space occupancy system, where any Library user will be able to see where there are free seats on campus. This should offer UCL students and staff better choice of where to study.
Read more about the Library Services strategy, phase 2 of our Science Library refurbishment and building work on the new Student Centre.
Sustainability requirements
In addition to improving occupant wellbeing, these refurbishments
will incorporate UCL's rigorous sustainability
requirements.
UCL require FSC certified timber, or equivalent, on all our projects to ensure
we are sourcing from environmentally friendly forestries.
We look at other
materials too - such as carpets and furniture - to ensure we use those with
industry best practise credentials for sustainability. While any lighting and
AV installed, is specified to meet high energy efficiency requirements.
Wellbeing
based measures are also key, such as use of benign paints and finishes,
excluding many products which emit harmful chemicals into the surrounding air.
Delivering these sustainability requirements ensures sustainable materials are procured for all the Library Services improvements whilst enhancing the workplace environment for staff and students.
Karen Flood, UCL Library Services