News/ 19 January 2026
Wow, what a year!
2025 saw a plethora of building reference visits across the UK and Europe!
Starting in January there was a hard hat tour of the LSE’s Firoz Lalji Global Hub with a Fritz Lang style elevated bridge walk across the open atrium!
In February we spent a day at Leeds University visiting Esther Simpson Building, Henry Bragg Building and Helix, and learning of how the university was engaging students and staff in envisioning the future campus.
We then travelled to the south west to visit the University of Plymouth in March to see Babbage Building, Fitzroy Building and InterCity Place.
April saw a visit to the University of London’s newly refurbished/updated Warburg Institute and then in May it was off to Antwerp. The Forum's first visit to Belgium to see University of Antwerp’s Building M and Building O, Sint-Lucas School of Architecture and Havenhuis Port House.
June was a bumper month, beginning with a visit to Kings College’s London Institute for Healthcare Engineering and followed later in the month: University of the Arts London College of Fashion, UCL’s Marshgate building and Sadlers Wells Theatre were showcased at the University Design Forum Annual Conference in the Olympic Park, Stratford.
After the summer break, October saw the Forum visiting Oxford's Jackson Library at Exeter College and then a second International reference visit to Dublin where Trinity College Dublin, TU Dublin and Dublin City University were all on the menu.It was then up to Scotland to view Edinburgh University’s Futures Institute in November followed by a study tour to UAL’s Wimbledon College of Art at the end of the month. Capping off the year we combined business and pleasure by holding the Forum’s 30th Birthday Party at Imperial College’s recently remodelled Students’ Union. That’s 23 buildings visited in 12 months – not a bad return on your member subscription investment.
With huge thanks to Ian Caldwell and his Events Group for making all these happen. Bring on 2026!
