The Bartlett and UCL Engineering to expand into new space at Here East

The Bartlett, UCL’s faculty of the Built Environment and UCL Engineering will be expanding into premises at Here East on Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in early 2016. 

Next year, UCL will take possession of 3,000 square metres of 10 metre high studio space at Here East which will be used to undertake ground-breaking research in areas including heritage, architecture, infrastructure, transport, robotics, healthcare, manufacturing and environmental measurement. UCL will also develop new education programmes in creative design, using film and performance as well as robotic and networked screen technologies.

Professor May Cassar, Director of the UCL Institute for Sustainable Heritage (UCL ISH) that will have a presence at Here East said:

“We are extremely excited about the launch of Here East. The new space will allow UCL ISH staff and students to conduct material analysis and environmental research there, enabling the integration of research and community-based activities.  Academics and students, both PhD and MRes SEAHA, will move between the sites according to need.

“The  SEAHA Mobile Heritage Lab will be located at Here East, providing a key research facility which will be unmatched in the UK.  Here East will be the nerve centre for many exciting cross-disciplinary and collaborative research initiatives”. 

The scale and novelty of the scheme will enable UCL to pursue new and exciting projects to strengthen interdisciplinary research and teaching. The move also signals UCL’s commitment to engaging with the local community and the London Legacy Development Corporation in advance of the opening of the new campus, UCL East, on Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in 2019. 

The deal cements Here East as a destination for creativity and invention, bringing together education, business, technology, media and data to collaborate in its pursuit of innovation. Here East occupy the former press and broadcast centres on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and provide over one million square feet of versatile spaces. 

UCL’s space will be designed by leading architects Hawkins\Brown, who are also responsible for the design of Here East. 

Professor Alan Penn, Dean of The Bartlett, UCL, said: “By bringing creative design under the same roof as advanced technological research, with the space to learn about collaborative creativity from the performing arts, we aim to build the cadre of tech savvy creative designers and engineers needed to drive a UK manufacturing renaissance.”

Professor, Anthony Finkelstein, Dean of UCL Engineering, said: “As a first step in developing its exciting and important presence on the QEOP, UCL will be bringing fabrication, prototyping, manufacturing and robotics to Here East. Our activity, which will span research and teaching also brings together work on engineering and the built environment in a new combination that will cross disciplinary barriers and generate new ideas and technologies."