Brutalist architecture moulds with greenery to make the University of East Anglia (UEA) on the outskirts of Norwich one of the UK’s most striking campuses.
Indeed, the cancellation of in-person open days during the pandemic has been blamed in part for a recent slump in student recruitment, which led to last month’s announcement that staff posts would have to be cut in an attempt to balance the books.
But UEA’s struggles cannot solely be blamed on Covid. In fact, even one of its biggest assets – its campus – is now adding to the woes of the institution, by slowly falling down at precisely the wrong moment.
Teaching blocks and accommodation housed in the grade II-listed Lasdun Wall – named after architect Denys Lasdun – will be “unusable by 2025”, UEA fears, without extensive repairs, funded by a £100 million loan, which are only just getting under way.
