UCL submits plans to transform Wates House

UCL has submitted a planning application to transform Wates House for The Bartlett School of Architecture. At a total project cost of £30 million, the design by HawkinsBrown will double the amount of teaching and research space available in Wates House to the school's students and staff, while retaining the building's existing structure. The entire building has been reconfigured to include significantly more studios and breakout space, encouraging collaboration across the school. Central to the design philosophy is opening up the façade of the building to reveal the activity within. This has been achieved by placing formal and informal exhibition spaces at ground floor level, inserting a new staircase to open up the building'scirculation, re-orientating the entrance and expressing key spaces to give strategic views of London. Andrew Grainger, director of UCL Estates, said: "Wates House is a critical project, part of the estate transformation works set to start this summer to improve UCL's buildings and make better use of the space that we have. The building will be stripped back to its shell and completely remodelled, adding space including a new full height extension facing Gordon Street, and a lateral extension to the building perimeter.