The Bartlett School of Architecture, Bloomsbury

Hawkins\Brown for UCL

Contract value: £21.5m

GIA: 8,900m²

This proposal remodels and extends the Bartlett’s 1970s Wates House, located in the Bloomsbury conservation area. It strips back the original structure, wraps it in a new skin and more than doubles the usable area available to the school.

The jury described the meeting of the school’s complex requirements as extremely successful. The ability to provide a desk for each student was a major achievement, while the building’s elevation provides a simple and unpretentious new enclosure.

The general impression is of an energetic and exciting place to work, with occasional generous corners in which to relax or study. The jury felt that this was a successful reincarnation that offers the potential for students to take further ownership of the building in future.