Exciting upgrades to student facilities have been delivered through the Central Estates Strategy Board (CESB) Small Works Project from Summer 2025.
UCL Estates continues to deliver a wide range of projects to enhance the student experience across campus, reflecting the university’s ongoing commitment to creating a more vibrant, inclusive, and supportive environment.
As part of this effort, the Central Estates Strategy Board (CESB) Small Works Projects are helping to reshape how spaces are used. To support a university-wide shift towards agile working, these initiatives expand and enhance student study areas to encourage collaborative learning and refurbish welfare spaces for both students and staff. These projects also prioritise improvements in campus accessibility and sustainability, ensuring that UCL remains inclusive and ready for the future.
What’s new?
- Bloomsbury Theatre (15 Gordon Street): New student common room
The student space in the Bloomsbury Theatre has undergone a full refurbishment to enhance its functionality and appeal. Key improvements include the removal of an internal wall to create a more open and welcoming environment, alongside the construction of a dedicated enclosed activity area. The space now features a new floor and upgraded windows, improving both aesthetics and natural light.
To support a variety of student needs, the area has been fitted with a mix of seating options, tables, and lockers. These additions have transformed the space into a vibrant new common room. The final design was shaped by feedback from Students’ Union UCL stakeholders, ensuring the space reflects the preferences and priorities of the student community.
- Print Room Café: Refurbishment
The Students’ Union café has undergone a full renovation to enhance its layout, service flow, and seating capacity, creating a more welcoming and functional space for students and staff. The kitchen layout was redesigned to better support operational requirements and typical activities, while the overall café layout was informed by research-based flow mapping to improve how customers move through the space. A key change includes relocating the counter from the side to the end of the café to streamline movement and service. These adjustments have also enabled improvements to the menu offer, including an option to purchase coffee bean products.
In response to student feedback, the café now features significantly more seating, with a variety of options such as booths, chesterfield sofas, standard tables, laptop bar stools, and banquet-style seating. Some seats offer back support and are available at varying heights to accommodate different accessibility needs. A dedicated order collection area has been introduced, and an assisted listening system using an induction loop has been installed to support customers with hearing impairments.
The space has been refreshed and redesigned to create a more welcoming environment for both socialising and studying. To enhance this, the Students’ Union has introduced a book swap area.
- 25 Gordon Street: Refurbishment, including the installation of sustainable bidet toilets
The existing toilet facilities have been refurbished in one of the busiest areas on campus to improve accessibility. Each cubicle is equipped with an integrated bidet system - marking the first installation of bidet technology at UCL.
The space has had new flooring, wall and ceiling finishes, and enhanced lighting installed. This transformative project was developed in close collaboration with the Inclusive Environments Team, ensuring the facilities better reflect the diverse needs of the UCL community.
By introducing water-based cleaning systems, this pilot initiative also supports UCL’s sustainability goals by helping to reduce paper waste across campus. The installation of bidet-style toilets is a trial and will be assessed over the next weeks and months.
Why this work is important
These improvements are part of UCL’s ongoing commitment to creating inclusive, welcoming, and functional spaces that support a thriving student life on campus.
They are designed to:
- Enhance the overall student experience by providing spaces that support socialising, studying, and attending events.
- Increase capacity in high-traffic areas, helping to reduce congestion and improve comfort.
- Improve accessibility and usability across Students’ Union facilities, ensuring spaces are inclusive for all.
- Support student wellbeing and community-building by offering more flexible and inviting environments for connection and collaboration.
How it developed
The project grew from alignment within UCL’s strategic objectives to improve student spaces. It was shaped by student feedback, usage data, and in consultation with the SU.
Delivery was led by the Estates Capital Programme team, working in close partnership with the SU, staff and contractors.
Timeline
Works began in June under the CESB Small Works Project and were completed in September 2025.
More information is available in our recent news story: Improving our classrooms, lifts and carbon footprint: introducing UCL’s Infrastructure Masterplan.
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