Marshgate, a 35,000sqm new breed of academic building at the heart of the UCL East Campus – the largest single expansion of University College London since its foundation nearly 200 years ago. The vision for Marshgate is based on the recognition that the answers to the global challenges facing our planet lie less within traditional disciplines than in the interaction between them. To enable new pedagogies and new interdisciplinary ways of working, the design focussed on highly flexible spaces that encourage collaboration between teaching, research, academia and the public.