This is our design for a new building for the School of Life and Medical Sciences at UCL, to be located in the south courtyard of the Wilkins Building. We conceived of the SLMS Building as a freestanding masonry block that is connected to the existing Medical Sciences Building via a glazed atrium. Internally, this new atrium creates a strong east-west route for students and staff. From this starting point, staircases and lifts connect to new uses: a student hub, seminar spaces, faculty administration offices and new Category 2 ‘wet’ laboratories. We improved access throughout, such as new lifts to supplement the retained Anatomy Building staircase that remains a fundamental route within the final redevelopment.
High quality brick with deep-set openings creates a strong material presence from the exterior. The elevational treatment seeks to mediate between two imposing historic facades as well as help to redefine the importance of this courtyard.
New faculty building, including a student hub and wet laboratories, within a historic UCL courtyard.