The dynamic new gateway building to the University campus, The Enterprise Centre, was conceived as an ecological interpretation of UEA’s fine architectural legacy.
This Passivhaus and BREEAM Outstanding building is the latest in the list of UEA environmental trailblazers, such as the Elizabeth Fry Building, the Zuckerman Institute and the Julian Study Centre.
While its timber frame and straw cladding have been specified to reduce embodied carbon and promote the use of renewable materials, the bold, crisp and contemporary design has been influenced by the strong and confident modernist lines of Sir Denys Lasdun’s Teaching Wall and Lord Foster’s Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts.
Externally, The Enterprise Centre plays with scale, creating an unforgettable impression for visitors arriving on to the UEA campus from the north who will see an incredible thatch facade whilst, from the southern approach and upon entering the courtyard, the articulated glazed facades and single storey lecture theatre set within flint lined reed-beds offers a more intimately scaled arrival experience.
Internally, The Enterprise Centre is an exemplary modern teaching and working environment, characterised by plentiful natural light, excellent ventilation and indoor air quality, and an intimate connection with the historic Earlham Park and reflective Memorial Gardens.
Light airy spaces are complemented with a natural and low carbon material palette, low in toxicity, so excellent for health and wellbeing, but high in character, texture and local provenance.
