In many ways it will be a loss to Durham City if Dunelm House is demolished in a few years as Durham University has announced.

Brutalist architecture has few supporters but Dunelm House is unique particularly when taken in partnership with Kingsgate Bridge and adds considerably to the visual interest of Durham City.

The student union building requires nearly £15 million spending to make it at all functional. We therefore understand why Durham University is not prepared to make this investment. We hope Durham will get a replacement building which is ‘world class’ as Durham University claims. Any replacement will need to complement Kingsgate Bridge as Dunelm House has done.

Durham City needs a new cultural facility and Durham University has said a new building on the site would be exactly that. Last year we lost Durham Art Gallery which was closed by the Labour Council along with the DLI Museum.
While the new building may be Durham University’s it needs to be open to the local community as well. This is something we have spoken to the university about.

This is important as Durham University needs to show the people of Durham that it cares about the city. In the past, we feel that university expansion policies have considered only the university’s interests, rather than the balance which is required between the university and the wider city.