UCL Marshgate Building Tour
Plan A Consultants Ltd have been working in the Higher Education sector since the consultancy was formed, with prestigious completed projects including UCL’s Marshgate building with Stanton Williams and The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)’s Marshall Building with Grafton Architects.
During this time, we have observed several key trends emerge in the sector, partly driven by generational shifts in values and evolving changes in pedagogy. Our Technical Director, Simon England, summarises them as follows:
➡ The campus as a porous public space, providing some facilities for shared use. This helps build strong community links and enhance social mobility and inclusivity.
➡ Increased business collaboration and public-private partnerships to assist funding gaps and knowledge exchange, including the development of whole ‘innovation districts.’
➡ Quality retrofits and adaptive reuse – which brings a multitude of benefits, in terms of respect for existing architectural heritage, sustainability, and financial savings.
➡ Data-driven design, with digital twins to inform both adjustments to existing spaces and the creation of new spaces, including pilot studies.
➡ Still no consensus on academic office arrangements. The discussion is wider than space utilisation, it extends to expectations around the provision of quiet research space and the need to attract the best talent.
➡ Wide stakeholder consultation and engagement is crucial in achieving the best possible outcomes, although this needs to be carefully managed.
➡ Spaces with adaptability allow for changing course requirements, whilst activating ancillary spaces like passageways and breakout areas encourages serendipitous interaction.
➡ Following Covid, universities have also adopted more virtual or digital learning – although that needs to be balanced given the benefits of in-person collaboration and interaction.
➡ The proliferation of new courses is challenging the traditional facility groupings and resulting in new kinds of blended learning environments and spaces for project work, encouraging greater cross-pollination of ideas.
➡ The ‘student experience’ demands not just excellent learning facilities, but also a greater emphasis on spaces for social interaction, collaboration, mental health support, and wellbeing.
