Last night was our open lecture on the making of Wilkins Terrace, a milestone project within UCL’s Transforming programme. Andrew Grainger from UCL Estates kicked off by sharing the overall vision for the project and how it provides much needed amenity space for the whole university community. Next, I discussed how we overcome technical and heritage constraints through the architecture and landscape design, which even included a 1959 film clip explaining the principle of the golden ratio with a cameo by Donald Duck.

Bernard Burns from Szerelmey outlined how we decided upon Portland stone in the first place, how it was used structurally rather than just as an aesthetic finish, as well as the differing grades of stone/fossils throughout the terrace. Finally, Colin Ball of BDP gave an informative crash course in lighting design and discussed how the terrace is lit year-round without relying on added fixtures, but rather, is seamlessly integrated for an indirect glow. The event concluded with interesting conversations over mulled wine and mince pies.

If you missed it, you can view the full presentation here.