NRP Enterprise Centre,
University of East Anglia

Architype, in a team led by main contractor, Morgan Sindall plc, has won the design competition for the University of East Anglia (UEA) for a major new £8m exemplary low carbon building – the Norwich Research Park (NRP) Enterprise Centre.

Our design for the new Enterprise Centre is arranged around a contemporary entrance courtyard, in the centre of the site, with two wings to the north and south, housing new green business 'hatcheries' and academic spaces. Linking these together is a pavilion with social areas, exhibition and demonstration spaces, and within the courtyard is a rammed chalk lecture theatre. In an exhibition garden to the south, there is a testing pavilion for trialing new construction innovations.

The new building will be both Passivhaus and Breeam Outstanding, and will be a hub for joined-up low carbon thinking, acting as stimulation for the regional economy through our contemporary use of local natural materials and products.

We are using materials sourced locally to the site, such as Thetford timber, Norfolk straw and heather, chalk, lime, hemp and flint, which can be provided by local businesses and craftsmen. An innovative Brettstapel (massive timber panels using no glue, nails or screws) and timber panel structure is finished off with a rainscreen of prefabricated thatch panels.

Please click here to view an introduction to this exemplary low carbon project.