Go behind the scenes at the new Student Centre

It’s one thing to be walking into a sleek new building, but quite another to be able to walk in knowing the intricate details and enormous project process that went into its construction. When I sat down with David Young, Senior Project Manager at UCL for an interview about the building, I must have broken the record for the most “wow”s spoken during a conversation by the time our interview ended. The Student Centre, introduced to me by David as a building that manages to strike the balance between futuristic and domestic, features a co-existence of long glass windows and vast spaces with cosy armchairs and intimate study rooms.

On one instance as I stood admiring how well the furniture complemented the working environment, David told me that the team had spent 18 months working out what furniture to buy, having sought the feedback of UCL’s own students in making the selections. A “wow” was perhaps appropriate at that moment, but alas I became distracted by the striking window views. “The students can override the windows,” David says, indicating the small switches giving students a degree of control over their environment. The aesthetic building is undeniably designed for the needs of the students. When I ask Ben Meunier, the Director of Operations at UCL Library Services, about what he hopes students will get out of the Student Centre, he expresses his hope that students will “sense that there is a place for them to support their learning, whether that is somewhere to write up an assignment, work on a group task or find an answer to their inquiries.”

The furniture isn’t the only aspect of the building students were involved in selecting. “The various types of study and social space, the PCs and laptops for loan, the café and quiet contemplation room and showers and lockers – all these features reflect what students asked for,” shares Professor Anthony Smith, UCL Vice Provost (Education and Student Affairs) and a champion of the project. 

I learn from Ben that a number of exhibitions, workshops and surveys were also held throughout the project, followed by design workshops and visits with the Students’ Union Sabbatical Officers – members of the Student Centre Project Board – in December 2017. The enormity of the project astounds me and I can’t help but ask David, Ben and Professor Smith about the challenges involved in the building’s completion. 

Professor Smith summarises these challenges as “designing the building and constructing it,” and after recounting the task UCL faced with constructing such an important part of the campus “surrounded by listed buildings of very different styles,” praised UCL’s architects Nicholas Hare “[for having] designed a stunning building that is effortlessly elegant and already feels like it has always been there.”

“The second challenge was constructing the building,” Professor Smith details. “There were multiple buildings all heavily used by students and staff right alongside the construction site, we had to maintain fire engine access across the site throughout the build and as the site was excavated we were mindful of unexploded ordinance as it had been bombed during the Second World War.” When I learn this, I can’t help but cringe thinking of the fact that while students (myself included) had been busy overcoming the challenge of navigating the Bloomsbury streets to our next lectures, the hundreds-strong team had been busy overcoming the challenge of designing and bringing into being a project on such a large scale as the Student Centre.

Despite the many processes involved, the Student Centre was completed 5 days early; David, Ben and Professor Smith have much praise for the amazing team behind the project, and for good reason too. Ben describes the buildings’ obtaining an “A” EPC rating and significant environmental performance as “a real tribute to how effectively the architects, Estates and other stakeholders have worked to create an exemplary building.” With its use of solar photovoltaic panels and ground source heat pumps to generate energy, plus the new biodiversity to be found in the Japanese Garden, the Student Centre is a real testament to UCL’s commitment to sustainable development. 

I have a pressing question I’m really eager to ask David during my tour of the building: “what is your favourite feature of the new Student Centre?” To illustrate, David takes me up to the fourth floor and, as we’re climbing up the glossy steps, I learn that he sat on the selection panel for UCL’s Research as Art competition. In fact, Ben’s favourite feature of the Student Centre is the UCL art contributed from the competition, and as he tells me, “it helps to bring into view some of the research which is happening in the faculties and departments of UCL […] I find it fascinating to learn about what is going on in parts of the university I don’t come into close contact with.” I couldn’t agree more. As we reach the fourth floor I have to stop for a moment to really come to terms with the number of people and departments involved in this huge project...also because I’m out of breath from climbing the steps(!)

We cross over to a wall of windows facing out over Bloomsbury and Fitzrovia and even further. I behold a city view of strange buildings, then I realise I’ve walked past them hundreds of times. “This exact view,” David says to me, “has never been seen before now” – it’s at that moment that I realise why everything looks so unfamiliar to me. David then turns towards the atrium to show me what he terms “the street of the building”, i.e. the  space between the publically-open Japanese Garden and main entrance, and I witness over 300 computers arriving at the entrance for installation. My thoughts interrupted by the spectacle, the opportunity to utter “wow” for the hundredth time has thankfully passed. As we walk down to the lower floors, I can’t help but point out to David the stunning installations found around the rooms the computers are being taken to. Each room has its own colour palette, and yet there is co-ordination going on, with recurring features and themes from one room being found in another. 

On our way to the ground floor, we stop by to see the progress being made on what will soon be the Student Enquiries Centre. Ben describes how the Student Centre “brings together a range of student services which were previously dispersed,” giving students “a place where [they] can find answers to any question about student life.” Looking around the spacious room, I can definitely imagine it teeming with activity in the near future. 

We’ve reached the ground floor of the building and I look up to see how far we’ve come from the fourth floor. Actually I don’t recommend looking up from the bottom because the view is quite mesmerising, and you’ll strain your neck from being unable to look away. When I finally did turn away to see David point out to me the two large display cases close to the entrance, I was caught off-balance and unoriginally said “wow” again. According to Ben, the cabinets will be showcasing artefacts from some of UCL’s many outstanding collections, including the Library Special Collections. It’s just another example of how the Student Centre will incorporate the various aspects of life at UCL. I’m curious then to hear what David has to say about his vision for the Student Centre, and how he imagines it being used by students:
“No one really knows,” David tells me. “We have never had one of these at UCL.” As David explains, the Student Centre is a live building, and only time will tell what students make of it. I take one last lingering look back before I leave, soaking in the sight of the chairs being unpacked, the staff working hard to coordinate next steps, the computers being transported to their new homes, and then my own reflection in the glass, witnessing the development of this brilliant building. It’s a moment I want to remember.  
 
For a sensory teaser into the Student Centre, check out Robert Vilkelis’ article: UCL's new Student Centre