University College of London’s Grade-I building transformed into a mixed-use space under redevelopment proposals.
Scholars expressed worries that the University College of Education (UCL) has failed to put its Art Museum and significant art collection at the heart of its bicentennial redevelopment plans.
UCL’s emeritus professor of the history of art, David Bindman, expressed worries that the museum in the South Cloisters, the centre of William Wilkins’ 1820s building, is being transformed into a mixed-use space under an offer submitted to the planning authority, Camden council.
He told the media, “It’,s outrageous.” “UCL is in the process of dismantling its Art Museum to make way for alterations to the Grade I-listed building. There’s no destination for it. It has been an important publicly funded museum, used extensively for exhibitions and teaching. Now the idea is to sweep it away and make it into a kind of open, free-flowing space so that people can hire it.”
A UCL report on the redevelopment plans says that the region housing the museum will be entirely remodelled and refurbished as “a flexible space to support events such as a welcome week, the student union fair, societies and exhibitions”.
The collection comprises about 10,000 artworks, including the holding of UCL Slade School of Fine Art, whose famous alums include Augustus John and Stanley Spencer.
It boasts of prints and drawings dating back to the 16th century and significant paintings such as John’s Moses and the Brazen Serpent, 1898, and Spencer’s The Nativity, 1912. The institution is also noted for collecting females who attended the Slade, including Paula Rego and Dora Carrington.
Bindman, who was the head of the department for nine years until 2000, spoke of UCL’s plan: “It pays no attention to the museum as a secure space and a controlled environment. You can’t combine a museum with precious objects and an open space.”
He went further, saying that the proposal is to put everything in store. At the moment, they’re saying, ‘we’ll find a place for the museum eventually’.” In a letter to the UCL authorities, staff expressed “deep concern regarding plans to decant UCL Art Museum in November”, warning that “UCL is seriously risking its reputation”. They added: “UCL Art Museum is used for teaching and research across the university, and its reputation is global in reach … The museum’s collections are of national and international significance.”
The museum in the Cloister boasts a splendid mosaic designed by 19th-century French sculptor Henri Triqueti, whose patrons include Queen Victoria. The masterpiece “Marmor Homericum” depicts the inhabitants of the Delos listening to Homer’s Illiad. It was commissioned by one of UCL’s founders, George Grote.
Bindman stated: “Triqueti is an important Victorian artist who did a lot in Windsor Castle, and UCL is planning to take that down and put a lift in its place. It would be an act of gross philistinism.”
A spokesperson for UCL stated: “As part of a significant redevelopment project, we are transforming UCL’s iconic Quad, along with its surrounding buildings, to ensure our central London campus is a more sustainable, accessible and inclusive place for all our students, staff and visitors. These improvements will help preserve the history of spaces at UCL while making them more functional and usable, enhancing UCL’s estate ahead of our Bicentenary in 2026.
“While the Art Museum will be temporarily closed, its collections are being carefully stored and can still be accessed for research, teaching and for open days. In the longer-term we aim to provide new gallery and exhibition space, so our students and the public have better access to these important art works.”
