HRH The Princess Royal opens Birkbeck Central nearly 70 years after the building was first opened by Her Majesty the Queen Mother
The visit celebrated Birkbeck’s transformation of the building to provide high quality learning spaces equipped with the latest audio-visual HyFlex technology enabling students to join classes remotely and take part in them fully alongside those on campus in the classrooms.
Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal, Chancellor of the University of London, officially opened Birkbeck Central on Tuesday 21 October, marking the completion of the building’s extensive refurbishment and a major milestone in Birkbeck’s development.
The event was attended by The Mayor of Camden, Councillor Eddie Hanson; Birkbeck’s President, The Rt Hon Baroness Chakrabarti; and the Chair of Birkbeck’s Governors, The Lord Mayor of London, Alderman Alastair King, alongside members of the Birkbeck community.
The opening showcased Birkbeck’s commitment to providing its students with the highest quality teaching, learning, social and well-being spaces on its campus in Bloomsbury.
Her Royal Highness was taken on a tour of the revamped building by Birkbeck’s Vice-Chancellor, Professor Sally Wheeler OBE. As part of the visit, she joined a HyFlex class with students online studying alongside those in the classroom and saw a demonstration of the ways in which virtual reality is being brought into teaching through equipment and technology recently installed in Birkbeck’s new Immersive Learning Centre.
Her Royal Highness also met with staff and students in the Student Wellbeing area, learning about Birkbeck’s work to support students with diverse needs and to promote inclusion and accessibility. A visit to the Students’ Union office followed, where representatives discussed their role in shaping the student experience.
Her Royal Highness then officially opened Birkbeck Central by unveiling a commemorative plaque. She spoke about reopening a building that had been redeveloped to meet the needs of students in the 21st Century. To mark the occasion, The Princess Royal was presented with Birkbeck 200 Years of Radical Learning for Working People, a history of Birkbeck by Professor Emerita Joanna Bourke.
Professor Sally Wheeler, Birkbeck’s Vice-Chancellor said:
“It was an honour to welcome Her Royal Highness, The Princess Royal, to officially open Birkbeck Central. I was delighted to be able to share with her some of the work we are doing across our campus to provide Birkbeck students with the very best learning spaces and to introduce technology into our curriculum which makes it even easier for students to balance their studies with their careers, and work whilst they learn with us.”