UCL PEARL

The P.E.A.R.L. Building in Dagenham, East London, is a pioneering workplace and research environment developed for UCL to explore how people experience and interact with their surroundings. Originally conceived by Penoyre and Prasad Architects, the project has evolved into an adaptable, human-centred space that reimagines how we work, collaborate, and learn in a post-pandemic world.

At its core, P.E.A.R.L. is a study in flexibility and experience. The expansive, column-free interior allows full-scale environments — from transport hubs to public squares — to be recreated and studied, providing insight into how light, sound, and spatial design influence human behaviour and wellbeing.

The interior layout blurs traditional boundaries between workplace, laboratory, and studio. Modular zones can transform from research setups to collaborative workshops, from quiet focus areas to immersive event spaces. This adaptability supports hybrid working practices — enabling teams to come together, disband, and reconfigure with ease.

Lighting, acoustics, and material choices were guided by wellbeing principles: daylight control, soft finishes, and natural tones create a calm, comfortable environment that encourages both concentration and creativity. Integrated technology supports remote collaboration, allowing global research partners to participate seamlessly in on-site activities.

P.E.A.R.L. represents a new kind of workplace — one that balances performance with empathy. It provides researchers, designers, and the public with a platform to explore how built environments shape interaction, productivity, and inclusion.

Every element of the design enhances this mission: spaces are intentionally fluid, empowering users to adapt their surroundings to different modes of work — from solitary study to collective experimentation. The result is an environment that prioritises choice, connection, and wellbeing, setting a precedent for future research and workplace design.

Beyond its role as a research hub, P.E.A.R.L. acts as a civic workplace — a space that welcomes collaboration and engagement between academia, industry, and community. A flexible pop-up theatre, event zones, and open workshop areas invite the public to take part in experiments and performances, transforming research into shared experience.

This fusion of workplace and cultural space promotes innovation through inclusion — making P.E.A.R.L. not just a facility for studying human behaviour, but a living example of how thoughtful design can inspire it.

The interior design reflects UCL’s brand identity through its use of understated tones, refined detailing, and a focus on openness and accessibility — values that mirror the university’s commitment to collaboration, curiosity, and innovation. Visual cues drawn from UCL’s brand palette and graphic language are subtly integrated into the interior architecture, creating a cohesive experience that aligns the physical environment with the institution’s cultural and academic ethos.

Sustainability drives every aspect of P.E.A.R.L.’s design. A highly insulated, airtight structure, combined with air source heat pumps, photovoltaic panels, and low-energy lighting systems, achieves an A+ energy rating. Internally, material selection emphasises durability, low embodied carbon, and wellbeing — reducing waste while creating a healthy, balanced atmosphere.

The facility is on course to become carbon negative by exporting surplus renewable energy, embodying UCL’s environmental ambitions and establishing a benchmark for sustainable workplace design that is both intelligent and inspiring.