College management

Tony Blair may have plans to educate half the UK population to degree level, but when University College London (UCL) was founded in 1826, things were very different. A university education was available only to male members of the Church of England, and they would attend either Oxford or Cambridge.

In its early years, the University of London, as UCL was then known, was controversial. It accepted students of any race, class or religion – and women – and had the first student union. Newspapers dubbed it the 'Cockney College' because of its admissions policy; the church went further, branding it the 'Godless Institution of Gower Street'.

UCL put these arguments behind it, and went on to pioneer the systematic teaching of architecture, law and medicine. It also has an enviable reputation in engineering education. Today, it has more than 20 000 staff and students in 72 departments and boasts 85 000 alumni.

Building changes
Although the university has buildings around London, the result of mergers with other institutions, the bulk of its estate is near its original site at Gower Street in Bloomsbury. The building was the brainchild of William Wilkins, who went on to design the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square.

The first stones of the Wilkins building were laid in 1827, before enough funds had been secured to complete it. It was not until 1985 that the Gower Street entrance was completed.

Now, following a successful bid for support from the Joint Infrastructure Fund and the Science Research Investment Fund, UCL has embarked on an ambitious £150 million building and refurbishment programme for its campus. No 158-year delays are anticipated for this scheme, which includes a new engineering building and a cellular and molecular neuroscience building.

The first new building is located in the yard behind the current engineering block in Torrington Place. This will house the mechanical engineering, medical physics and computer science departments. The architect, Grimshaw, has designed the nine-storey, 9000 m2 structure to be as energy efficient as possible within the budget available. Lecture theatres, seminar rooms, laboratories and offices on the perimeter of each floor are lit by daylight where possible.

The foyer, circulation area, loading bay and plantrooms are on the ground floor, while steel bridges link the new building to the existing engineering block on the first to seventh floors.

Phase one of the construction work started in December 2002, in the basement under the engineering yard. This area, previously home to the special collections of the university library, was refurbished and is now an extension of the basement in the existing building.

The basement is a key part of the project. It is occupied by researchers from the Department of Mechanical Engineering. The work of its Internal Combustion Engine and Fuel Systems Research Group includes studies of the direct injection gasoline engine, fuel properties and vapourisation during combustion. The aim is to cut engine emissions. UCL's fuel systems test facility, set up in 1986, is thought to be the only such facility in a UK university. It is a safe environment for testing injectors and fuel systems under simulated engine conditions.

Electrical services in the basement were installed under the auspices of consultant Faber Maunsell and contractor Briggs & Forrester Electrical. They include 300 m of two-compartment, steel, perimeter trunking from Mita to carry power and data cables. The trunking is installed at skirting level around four soundproofed engine test beds and at dado height in four experiment rooms. Four control rooms are equipped with 100 x 100 mm bench trunking.

The trunking and wiring accessories installed in the basement are effectively in a workshop environment, so steel trunking and protected socket outlets were essential. Dave Markham of Briggs & Forrester, explains: "Steel trunking was ideal for the basement because of the unusual application within the engine cell areas. Also, the client wanted socket outlets recessed in the trunking, rather than mounted on the surface."

Briggs & Forrester worked closely with Mita's UK project manager Dave Copley to create a solution. They devised a way to modify the trunking, fitting a frame that would accept the recessed waterproof socket outlets. Phase one is complete and students and researchers have moved into the refurbished basement.

Phase two began with the demolition of the rear extension to the engineering block and the construction of the new nine-storey building. Contractors have started first fixing in the new building. Briggs & Forrester, responsible for all the lighting and small power, has fitted sophisticated lighting controls that, inkeeping with UCL's philosophy, are designed to save energy. The contractor's work also includes installation and commissioning of a fire alarm system that incorporates products from several manufacturers.

In the above-ground levels of the building, power and data cabling is distributed under raised access floors through a network of powertrack, floor grommets and over 1000 pre-wired floor outlet boxes from Mita. Power and data cabling are also contained in certain areas in 210 x 52 mm, two-compartment Cableline Duo perimeter trunking.

All work in the engineering building is scheduled to complete by October.

Science networks
Briggs & Forrester also installed cable management equipment at the nearby science building, which is nearing completion. The four-storey structure sits between the original Wilkins building and the new engineering development.

Laboratories take up most of the first, second and third floors. "Aluminium dado trunking is installed in all the labs, with power and data outlets," explains Pete Morris of Briggs & Forrester, "and we were very pleased with the installation." Administration and security areas on the ground floor have similar cable management installations.

Consultant Troup Bywaters + Anders specified natural ventilation for the ground floor and mechanical ventilation for the laboratories. Other services include fluorescent light fittings with T5 lamps and dimmable ballasts, an analogue addressable fire alarm system and computer data network linked to the main campus systems. Installation of the services finished at the end of March, and staff and students will move in shortly.

The completion of these two projects later this year is only part of UCL's construction programme. Work is set to continue into 2006, with buildings for the departments of anthropology, cancer studies and the school of Slavonic and East European studies plus a new centre for nanotechnology. There are also refurbishments planned for several other departments.

Mita's Dave Copley says: "The UCL developments have been unusual in the sheer variety of cable management products employed. Working closely with the contractors and consultants, Mita has helped to ensure that the university's teaching and research programmes will have state-of-the-art cable management systems for the 21st century."