Residential building located at One Pool Street, part of the UCL East development
One Pool Street: A New Gateway to UCL East
In the heart of Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, a new landmark has risen as a testament to innovation and collaboration. The building, named One Pool Street, is UCL's first on its new East campus and embodies a new type of university experience.
Designed by Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands (LDS), One Pool Street is a mixed-use building that combines student accommodation with interdisciplinary teaching and public spaces. The building's three-storey podium houses learning and public spaces, topped by two towers of student housing, standing at 13 and 17 storeys.
The design of One Pool Street is a subtle integration of functional elements, such as stair silhouettes and shading overhangs, which help mitigate the strong winds across the park. The facade, composed of precast concrete panels in a palette of whites and greys, features textures that alternate between smooth and rough.
One Pool Street's design aims to establish a confident and adaptable presence at the southern edge of the Olympic Park. It supports UCL's ambition to do things differently, fostering inclusivity and exploration, and erasing traditional separations between academic and civic functions.
The building's program spans research labs, academic workspaces, a cinema, café, shop, and a publicly accessible atrium. This atrium serves as a "fluid zone," integrating private university life with public engagement. Visitors, students, and researchers all arrive through the shared atrium portal, which hosts exhibitions, lectures, and impromptu demonstrations.
The building's design aligns with LDS's broader aim of delivering "hard-working" architecture, a mantra that has guided their ongoing relationship with UCL since the Bloomsbury campus masterplan over a decade ago. The building is part of the wider East Bank initiative, which also houses the V&A Storehouse and Sadler's Wells East.
The student accommodation in One Pool Street offers compact but comfortable bedrooms with en-suites and large windows offering expansive views. Student rooms are clustered in small flats of 8 to 11 bedrooms, prioritizing communal living. At the towers' ends, triple-aspect common rooms are framed by wraparound glazing, providing social spaces with panoramic views across the park.
One Pool Street is designed for longevity, with its mixed-use typology and adaptable interiors allowing for shifts in student demographics and academic needs. Secure zones within the building are delineated by fob access rather than turnstiles. Communal terraces and rooftop gardens offer recreational space and an outdoor laboratory, reinforcing the campus's ambition to fold research into daily life.
All windows in the student rooms, including in student rooms, are fully openable - a departure from restrictive norms in student housing. The building's sustainability measures, including green roofs and biodiversity initiatives, contributed to its BREEAM Excellent and Outstanding ratings for its residential and academic components.
In summary, One Pool Street is a mixed-use building designed to integrate student life and academic activity with public cultural engagement, acting as a landmark gateway for UCL East and a key component in London’s East Bank initiative to revitalize the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park area.
- This mixed-use building, One Pool Street, situated in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, not only offers student accommodation and interdisciplinary teaching spaces, but also houses public spaces, fostering lifelong learning and cultural engagement.
- The design of One Pool Street, aligned with LDS's principle of "hard-working" architecture, includes features that promote education and self-development, such as a cinema, café, shop, and a publicly accessible atrium for exhibitions, lectures, and impromptu demonstrations.
- Online education and real-estate converge at One Pool Street, where compact but comfortable student rooms offer panoramic views, encouraging learning in a stimulating environment.
- The financial aspect is also considered in One Pool Street's design, as investing in this building is not just about real estate, but about fostering a vibrant community of students, researchers, and visitors that benefits from the building's numerous educational and cultural facilities.
- The sustainability of One Pool Street, with its openable windows, green roofs, and biodiversity initiatives, not only contributes to healthier living for its occupants but also aligns with the vision of lifelong learning, promoting a harmonious coexistence of education, culture, and finance.
