From PAMELA to PEARL

Posted on: 01 Jul 2021

Front of a huge building with vertical black corrugated sheeting running full height, and rusty bronze Corten steel panels covering the lower two thirds of the wall. Big sections are block cut out around black doors and massive letters P.E.A.R.L run vertically upwards in white.

Update on A Trail of 2 Cities – June 2021

In the first six-months of 2021 TO2C was kick-started again, following the pause caused by the pandemic of 2020.

We are delighted that the team has now been joined by Nic Sandiland (Editor)

https://flexerandsandiland.com/archives/nic-sandiland/biography/

and Crin Claxton (Production Manager)

https://uk.linkedin.com › crin-claxton-26217330 https://uk.linkedin.com › crin-claxton-26217330

Team outside corner of PEARL building against blue sky – From left to right, Crin, Terry, Maria + Bella guide dog, Nick Tyler and Nic Sandiland wearing a rucksack.

Whilst waiting for the world to re-open, PEARL (Person-Environment-Activity Research Laboratory) UCL’s first net-zero carbon in-use building) has been moving towards completion. It is a unique, urban prototype laboratory for the creation of full size environments to test how people use infrastructure and cities.

Looking down the length of the vast interior space with the huge platform in the T section at the end. All of the research platforms appear in a long line, with some of the floor to ceiling storage racking behind them. In the fore-ground from left to right is Nic S,Crin , Maria Nick T and Terry, all white apart from Maria.

https://nla.london/projects/ucl-pearl

Shows scale of 100M interior with a research platform and it’s over-head rigging on the left.

Director of PEARL Nick Tyler, Chadwick Professor of Engineering and Director of UCL Centre for Transport Studies, has offered A Trail of 2 Cities an up-grade in the form of hosting the presentation of the project at this new facility, instead of the original proposed location at PAMELA in North London.

An array of hundreds of LED lights in rigging running through the length of the interior, able to emulate any lighting state in any part of the world at any time of the day or night.

The platform that will be used for A Trail of 2 Cities showing fork-lift apparatus and the rigging from a distance.

The TO2C team went on an invited tour of the amazing new facility in June, led by Nick.

The approach to Pearl from a distance and facing the right hand corner of the short end of this rectangle building, against a deep blue sky. The ‘L’ of UCL is closest in the steel rust-coloured wall. On the left the name PEARL in white capital letters running vertically down from the top of the steel wall and positioned to the left of the entrance door.

Journeying out to Dagenham East in Barking on a hot sunny day , and walking across the vast approach to this monumental new building, seemed like the trail of London and LA were finally converging!

The technology, design, space and beauty of the venue is overwhelming and makes you feel a better world is possible. I am both terrified and extraordinarily excited to explore how we will make the presentation of the TO2C research work at PEARL in October 2021.