UCL PEARL

“A great achievement by all involved”

– Neil Turvey, UCL Estates Assistant Director Capital Projects

Overview

UCL is one of the world’s leading universities, as well as being London’s number one university for Research Strength, where they have consistently led the way with not only their academic excellence but also their global impact.

UCL PEARL (Person-Environment-Activity Research Lab) was completed in Autumn of 2021 and is a unique facility, designed to explore how people interact with their environment in a groundbreaking 4,000m² building. Sophisticated systems are used to gather a rich array of information which will help to understand these reactions and how they can be used to create a better urban environment for the future.

Partnership

HAG Ltd. were tasked with protecting the building both through the supply & installation of essential fire protection systems, such as fire shutters & fire curtains and high security steel door sets throughout the building, located in Dagenham, in the London Borough of Barking & Dagenham.

As a UK wide company with nearly 40 years’ experience in dealing with large scale contracts of this size, we were able to assist the main contractor by ensuring reliability, professionalism, safety and ensuring that the project was completed on time.

All our fire protection products are fully compliant with the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 and certified to UKCA.

All of HAG’s fire curtains have been independently tested and certified by the international fire testing experts at Warrington Fire, are tested to the latest standard BS EN 1634:2014 and marked to BS EN 13241-1:2003.

HAG Ltd.’s steel doors offer an exceptional level of security, whilst not compromising on aesthetics. Our doors were made to the specification of UCL PEARL, to seamlessly sit in their surroundings and ensured not only security, but they are suitable for high levels of use and offer thermal insulation.

The Project

The original UCL PEARL site consisted of various buildings, one of which was Grade II listed 1940’s. The new building is the first zero-carbon in-use building for UCL, and one it hopes will set the bar for future developments.

Within the 10m high building, you will find life sized environments, such as a train station, village square, high street, even a pop-up theatre, all of which have fully controlled conditions and the ability to change materials, such as the flooring or wall cladding. UCL can adjust lighting, sounds and experiment with smells and the other senses to see the impact that these changes have on people.

“A building that will be able to house the world”

– Nick Tyler, Chadwick Professor of Engineering and Director of UCL Centre for Transport Studies

Up until now, assumptions have been made about how people react to environments, but this has been based on outdated data. UCL PEARL can now pave the way, with the use of sophisticated systems, such as eye trackers, brain scanners & accelerometers, to ensure a more informed suite of ground-breaking data going forward.

UCL PEARL are already working in partnership with the London Underground and are researching the design of the built environment for people with dementia.

Not only are there legal requirements and obligations for fire safety and protection within this building, but fire shutters & fire curtains should be regularly maintained to ensure they are suitable for intended use, they are safe to use, in good repair and subject to a program of monitoring & reviewing.

This is another reason that HAG Ltd. were chosen to assist with this unique facility, as we can offer a full & comprehensive maintenance & repair service, to ensure that their fire shutters & curtains continue to work efficiently and with ease.