UCL Oculus and Octagon Gallery
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UCL Oculus and Octagon Gallery - Flaxman Gallery
Edmund Sumner (website) Download Original
Reopening the Oculus in the Grade I Listed Wilkins Building at UCL with the creation of a gallery space
The project aims to resolve the long running conflict between retaining John Flaxman’s sculpture of St Michael Overcoming Satan, while reopening the pre-existing Oculus, at the heart of UCL’s Grade I Listed Wilkins Building through the installation of a minimally detailed glass structure over the restored aperture.
A structural glass dais supports the retained statue in its original position, while the Oculus was reopened re-establishing lost vistas between the publicly accessible ground floor Octagon Gallery and the cupola topped first floor Flaxman Gallery above.
The Octagon display cabinets, formed from toughened and laminated glass, make reference to the Flaxman Gallery panels above, with the height of the display being set by the springing point of the adjacent arched openings. The cabinets are designed as single monolithic units with smaller randomly placed apertures, reflecting and complementing the wall panels of the upper Flaxman Gallery.
Data
- Begun: Mar 2012
- Completed: Nov 2012
- Floor area: 237m2
- Sectors: Arts and culture, Public realm, Education
- Total cost: £900,000
- Funding: HEFCE
- Tender date: Feb 2012
- Procurement: GC/Works/1 Single Stage Design and Build
- Address: University College London, Gower Street, London, WC1 6BT, United Kingdom
Professional Team 
- Architect: Burwell Deakins Architects
- Client: University College London
- QS: Potter Raper Partnership
- CDM Co-ordinator: DBK
- Mechanical and Electrical Engineer: Fowler Martin
- Structural engineer: Stockley Associates
- Exhibition Consultant: Land Design Studio
- Main contractor: 8Build Ltd.
Suppliers
- Glazing: Firman Glass
