Save Dunelm House

Account dedicated to sharing & promoting actions to save Durham Uni's Dunelm House from demolition. Photo: 1965, Dick Raines, Architect’s Co-Partnership

[North East Heritage Library @neheritagelib]

Dunelm House. I'm chucking my two pence in by saying it deserves its place on the Durham skyline. It reflects both the best of an architectural tradition, and the ambitions of a Britain on the precipice of modernity.

Dunelm is a five level student union, and was built in the mid 60s following the designs of Richard Raines, in turn complimenting Ove Arup's bold but respectful Kingsgate Bridge. We can say the same about Arup's Ouseburn Metro Viaduct in that despite its non-conforming design, it fits well with its surroundings.

It provided separate staff space and communal facilities for those in different colleges, and has remained largely the same externally. Its interior had a significant Scandi influence which has since been heavily refurbished according to the listing.

We see this building through the eyes of the 2020s, but it's important to consider the stuffiness and rigidity of University living pre-1960s. Dunelm House was at the forefront of psyche change, and to consider this was built in such a historic area was bold if not audacious. I also think it's quite sympathetic to the area, and does not take away from the UNESCO World Heritage Site over the Wear.

It absolutely deserves its place on the riverbank for years to come, even if it requires new purpose or role.

[Klaus Toons @klaustoon]

#BrutalThursday: 'Civilia: Utopia in the Age of Photomechanical Reproduction. Architectural (Photo)copy as (Re)invention', a text where @AllElseIsGooky and yours truly analyze Browne/De Wolfe's mechanics of appropriation in Civilia #brutalist #architecture https://t.co/sGz9b3G0X1

[Klaus Toons @klaustoon]

#brutalist #architecture #utopia "... collage #121, 'The City Hall' [is] actually one of the many appearances in Civilia of Dunelm House... dramatically enlarged from its modest domestic scale by the magic of collage into a colossal volume." (from AR #24):
https://t.co/sGz9b3Ft7t

[Simon Phipps @new_brutalism]

Dunelm House, Durham University; designed by Michael Powers and Richard Raines of Architects Co-Partnership, built 1964-66. Engineered by Ove Arup and Partners

Photo: Simon Phipps #brutalnorth

[Save Dunelm House @SaveDunelmHouse]

@VoxPopple @SamEspensen @tomdyckhoff The campaign to restore and repurpose will continue apace 😉

[Save Dunelm House @SaveDunelmHouse]

Incredible find! This might be Elvet Riverside, another Durham ACP building?

[Tom Dyckhoff @tomdyckhoff]

We’re renovating a house (don’t ask), & have just found under the floorboards a cache of blueprints drawn by the last owner, who worked for Frederick Gibberd and Architects Co-Partnership. Magical. Feast your eyes on Liverpool RC Cathedral and, I think, @SaveDunelmHouse

[RIBAJ @RIBAJ]

News catch-up: Five years on, Durham’s brutalist Dunelm House has been listed, reports @ArchiAldous #ribajintelligence
https://t.co/LpvPZlJPlY

[Durham University Collections (no longer on X) @DU_Collections]

Fancy seeing some brutalist architecture from our archives?

New online exhibtion 'Take Another Look' was curated by @Durham_Uni BA Liberal Arts & MA Visual Culture students to showcase Durham's overlooked architecture

View the online exhibition here.
https://t.co/6uN9KJNyhF

[CVACinDURHAM @CVACinDURHAM]

Grade II Listing finally approved by @DCMS for Dunelm House @durham_uni - an important Brutalist building, currently home of @durhamstudent!

Read more from our member Dr Adrian Green on our website https://t.co/BlWNuc3CI2 and see @C20Society's site too https://t.co/wYD6rYHa2N.

[This Brutal House @BrutalHouse]

________________
Dunelm House
Durham
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Photography:
This Brutal House
2017

Great work @C20Society for helping to get this important building listed. The building, the setting is just wonderful.

[Barnabas Calder @BarnabasCalder]

YES! HAPPY BRUTAL MONDAY EVERYONE! It's such brilliant news.

[Klaus Toons @klaustoon]

#BrutalMonday: Of course, as one of the most photogenic buildings of #brutalist #architecture (I'll defend it to death), Dunelm House also showed up several times in De Wolfe(s) & Browne's 'Civilia'. Here it is, doubling as the 'University Boat Club': https://t.co/DkSluACRBO

[The Concrete Centre @concretecentre]

Congrats to @C20Society and @SaveDunelmHouse for securing the listing of a concrete icon! Read Concrete Quarterly's review (with great John Donat photos) from the summer of 66. https://t.co/i1iSeOWsAA

[NickCouplandArt @NickCouplandArt]

Dunelm House...
Big, beautiful, grade II listed belter!

[Municipal Dreams @MunicipalDreams]

Congratulations to the @C20Society and everyone else involved in securing the listing of Dunelm House, Durham's brutalist masterpiece.

[Andrew Murray @aaamurray]

In the spirit of the good news about the Dunelm House listing here is a fantastic model shot by Bob Gare who worked closely with Raines on the project.

[Elizabeth Hopkirk @swix]

It's great news - architecturally and environmentally - that Dunelm House in Durham has been listed. Bravo to @C20Society and other campaigners. I managed to route a rather soggy cycling trip past it a few years ago and was captivated. https://t.co/dXigCYI49X