Mace wins first phase of work to redevelop UEA’s ‘Lasdun Wall’

Mace has won an £88m contract for the first phase of work to upgrade the grade II listed buildings at the University of East Anglia.

The university was created during the 1960s and the original campus buildings were created by architect Denys Lasdun and include the Norfolk and Suffolk Terrace, a grade II*-listed accommodation block known as the Ziggurats.

The work is to upgrade and expand teaching facilities at the UAE’s grade II-listed “Lasdun Wall” – so-called because it comprises four buildings constructed to appear as one.

The university plans to carry out a four-phase strip-back-to-frame refurbishment of the Lasdun Wall with the first phase modernising science facilities and teaching space in an extended Building 3.

Work will include strip out and asbestos removal, façade repairs and window replacement, building a near 3,000 sq m extension and fitting out the existing 11,000 sq m building.

Just two firms bid the job with the other being Vinci. Work will start this October and finish in 2027.

The other buildings of the Lasdun Wall – Buildings 4, 5 and 6 – will continue to operate as normally before also being upgraded.

Consultants working on the scheme include QS and project manager RLB, structural engineer Ramboll, architect Shepherd Epstein and heritage architect Purcell.

The university said the Lasdun Wall needs refurbishment and repair in order to meet sustainability improvements to reduce its carbon emissions and contribute to UEA’s target of becoming a net-zero campus by 2045.

Meanwhile, the university has said it has spent £2m on remedial work to fix unsafe concrete.

Reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete, known as Raac, was found in four types of accommodation.

The UEA said while it was set to reopen three buildings by September, the Ziggurats, which has 600 rooms, would remain closed until further notice.