On 11-13 February, a spectacular immersive sound and light show lit up the Portico, marking 200 years of UCL and kicking off a year of celebratory activities and events. Hear from just some of the people who helped make it happen.
UCL Illuminated transported staff, students, alumni and members of the public back in time to London, 1826 - the year UCL was founded - and on a journey through 200 years of history.
Our iconic Wilkins Building and newly remodelled Quad were transformed into a dazzling Son et Lumière: an immersive experience brought to life with cutting-edge 3D projection mapping, light, music, storytelling and animation.
A huge amount of work went into the event. First conceived in 2023, planning and preparations began in January 2024, with workshops for staff and students taking place throughout 2024 and 2025 to help shape the projection show. The UCL200 team brought together colleagues from across UCL - including Events, Estates, Faculties and beyond - to get the Main Quad and Wilkins Building ready on time and dazzle more than 8,500 people who attended the event in-person.
Hear from the people who made it happen
"Seeing the projections come alive was extraordinary": Lucy Briggs, Programme Director - Bicentennial
What did being part of UCL Illuminated mean to you?
UCL Illuminated was the culmination of over two and half years of hard work and dedication. Seeing the projections come alive on the walls of the Wilkins Building and the Portico was extraordinary.
We’ve spent a huge amount of time digging into archives, exploring museum collections and hosting staff and student workshops to create the show. Together with Professor Dame Hazel Genn (Pro-Provost Bicentennial) and Asyma Raheel (Project Manager - Bicentennial), we have agonised over every word and image in the show, reviewed countless versions, and worked with an incredible creative team, who helped bring our vision to life. To see how positively it has been received has been phenomenal.
What was your favourite part of being behind the scenes?
For me, it was incredible to see the collective force of UCL come together to create something truly special for our community and external visitors. We had more than 200 staff and ambassadors working each night, not to mention the many who contributed before and after the show. I am so grateful to each and every individual who helped play their part.
Tell us a behind the scenes story
I’ve had the pleasure of standing in the Quad until the early hours on far too many an occasion. A particular highlight was during our initial light testing in October 2024, when we tried and failed to get all the lights switched off. I have vivid memories of our projection contractors throwing blankets over a lamppost in an attempt to dim it!
"I’ve never felt prouder to be part of UCL Estates": Sarah West, Head of Marketing, Communications and Experience, Estates
What did being part of UCL Illuminated mean to you?
Being part of UCL Illuminated marked a major milestone for me. It brought together several years of work: from supporting the Bicentennial Physical Legacy Works programme and helping deliver the first physical rollout of UCL’s refreshed identity , to coordinating Estates operations to run a smooth, memorable event.
I’ve never felt prouder to be part of UCL Estates. Colleagues from many Estates teams - events, capital, communications, cleaning, portering, security, fire, infrastructure, maintenance, catering and many more - came together with real commitment!
What was your favourite part of being behind the scenes?
My team and I, along with fellow Estates staff, were responsible for making sure the Quad lights were turned on and off to signal the start and end of the show, with the switch being located next to one of the doors into the building.
When we then opened the doors for people to exit the quad, I got to witness first hand an outpouring of joy and wide-eyed excitement from visitors still processing what they had just seen, and their eager anticipation to explore the spaces ahead.
Tell us a behind the scenes story
What none of us anticipated was just how much cable cover Double Take Projections needed to protect the sensitive fibre optic cabling running between projections - a whopping 68 metres of cable cover stretching across the Quad!
When we then realised that additional reflective tape was essential to mark the edges of the cover and highlight other boundaries, Estates teams managed to source more than 400 metres of tape within a single day to ensure everything was compliant and secure for the week ahead, which was no mean feat.
"A reminder of how powerful events can be": Claudia Roland, Senior Events Manager, VP External Engagement
What did being part of UCL Illuminated mean to you?
I’ve been at UCL for nearly 12 years now, and this was the most ambitious event we’ve put on. The result was just spectacular.
It was so rewarding seeing the audience engagement and such positive feedback, despite the fact that we had driving rain almost every night - there is only so much you can control!
The event really highlighted all the incredible research successes and amazing people who work across the institution, and was a reminder of how powerful events can be in bringing these stories to life.
What was your favourite part of being behind the scenes?
Seeing it all come to life! I really can’t overstate how much work and how many people it took to make these events happen. It was a true UCL-wide effort and ensuring we were all coordinated was challenging, but such a rewarding experience.
Tell us a behind the scenes story
It was so wet! I think trying to call the show while wringing my socks out the back of the production trailer will be a memory that stays with me (and probably the whole technical team) for some time.
"What made it powerful for me was watching the Security team step up": Oliver Curran, Head of Security
Being part of UCL Illuminated was special.
For our Security team, it meant being trusted to help create an environment where celebration, reflection and community could happen safely and confidently. What made it powerful for me was watching the Security team step up, from months of planning to delivery on the night - balancing visibility, reassurance and professionalism.
Security often works quietly in the background, but events like this remind us that what we do enables everything else to take place.
What was your favourite part of being behind the scenes?
Seeing the Quad transform from a complex operational space into somewhere full of light, music and energy was incredible. We’d spent weeks planning for different scenarios, but on the night, the atmosphere was genuinely uplifting.
My favourite part was listening to people say to the team how safe and well-organised it felt. Most guests won’t know the detail behind that - the coordination, briefings, rehearsals, tabletop exercises and teamwork - but knowing we helped create that experience was really rewarding.
Tell us a behind the scenes story
Campus life continued at pace during UCL200. To ensure business-as-usual activity remained fully supported, we created a separate, dedicated space focused solely on UCL200 planning and delivery. We wanted this space to have a name we’d never used before, so after some discussion (and a little creativity), we landed on the name ’Security Hub for Internal Engagement, Leadership and Decision-Making’.
It gave us clear operational focus, streamlined decision-making and a strong team identity, while also providing the perfect excuse to refer to ourselves as the "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.". Thank you, Marvel!
"A once in a lifetime event": Colin Penman, Head of Archives
What did being part of UCL Illuminated mean to you?
For me it was an opportunity to share the visual richness of the UCL’s historical collections. If people think about the archive at all, they’re focusing on things like annual reports, minutes or other official documentation. But the collections I manage also include beautiful building plans, student magazines, photographs and even objects such as medals, blazers and scarves, that really bring our history alive.
It was amazing to see these images brought to new life on a massive scale - a once in a lifetime event for me.
What was your favourite part of being behind the scenes?
I really enjoyed the meetings with Double Take Projections. It was fascinating to work with people who were thinking about our collections from a really different point of view.
The visual impact is obviously so vital to this kind of event, whereas I’m used to working with students and researchers on (mainly) academic projects. This was complemented by a lot of fact checking, which is more interesting than it sounds, and gave me a chance to dispel a lot of the myths that have built up around UCL’s history!
"It felt like contributing to something larger than myself": Ania Kaczynska, Creative Research and Project Support Intern, UCL200
What did being part of UCL Illuminated mean to you?
Being part of UCL Illuminated felt like contributing to something larger than myself. I was working with stories spanning 200 years, each one significant in shaping the institution we know today. It also came with many questions: I had to think about whose stories are preserved, whose are marginalised, and how visual histories are curated to reinforce or challenge institutional identities.
In my role, I’ve aimed to approach this sensitive material with both care and critical awareness. It was an opportunity not just to celebrate a legacy, but to examine it and ensure that what we chose to project onto these historic buildings reflects the diversity, resilience, and complexity of the community they represent.
What was your favourite part of being behind the scenes?
Working closely with the Special Collections and other archives to unveil UCL’s history has been both exciting and humbling. I am always conscious that these materials aren’t just historical records; they actively shape how we remember, celebrate, and sometimes even conveniently forget the past.
Seeing how these archival fragments were then transformed into a large-scale visual spectacle was also incredible. Standing in the Quad the evening of the projections, I felt a quiet sense of pride - not just in the project itself, but in the generations of students and staff who came before me, whose stories shaped the space we now inhabit.
What’s next for UCL200
UCL200 has only just begun! UCL Illuminated has kicked off an exciting programme of activities, events and storytelling to mark the bicentennial, with many opportunities for staff to participate.
This month, Two Centuries Here opened: a major, new multi-space exhibition in the heart of UCL’s historic central London campus. Running throughout our bicentennial year, the exhibition invites visitors to explore UCL’s origins and 200 years of ground-breaking research, innovation, education and impact. You can also explore the online exhibition, Faces of UCL.
Find out more about UCL200 and how to get involved on the UCL website and the UCL200 community hub on SharePoint.
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