Editing Durham Students' Union (section)

==Location==
[[File:dunelm3.jpg|thumb|left|Durham Students' Union's building, Dunelm House]]

The Students' Union occupies and manages [[Dunelm House]], a university-owned building in the centre of Durham where a wide variety of student activities take place. Designed by the [[Architects' Co-Partnership]], the [[Brutalist architecture|Brutalist]], angular concrete building was completed in 1966 under the supervision of architect [[Ove Arup|Sir Ove Arup]], whose [[Kingsgate Bridge]], adjacent, opened two years earlier.  Built into the steeply sloping bank of the [[River Wear]], Dunelm House is notable internally for the fact that the main staircase linking all five levels of the building runs in an entirely straight line. This was intended by the building's architects to create the feeling of an interior street.<ref name="Pevsner">[[Nikolaus Pevsner|Pevsner, Nikolaus]], ''The Buildings of England: County Durham'' (2nd ed. 1983, revised by Elizabeth Williamson), [[Harmondsworth]], [[Middlesex]]: [[Penguin Books Ltd]], pp.233-234</ref>

In 1968 Dunelm House won a [[Civic Trust Awards|Civic Trust]] award,<ref>Architects Co-Partnership, [http://www.acparchitects.co.uk/pages/about_awards.asp "Awards and Commendations"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928011038/http://www.acparchitects.co.uk/pages/about_awards.asp |date=2007-09-28 }} accessed 28 October 2006</ref> and a RIBA award in 1987,<ref>{{cite web | url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:RIBA_Awards_Dunelm_House.jpg | title=English: A circular plaque showing the Royal Institute of British Architects Award 1987, displayed on the building of Dunelm House, Durham, which received the award | date=17 June 2023 }}</ref> though it has been described by students as "The ugliest building in Durham".<ref>The Tab Durham, [http://thetab.com/uk/durham/2016/10/24/asked-people-thought-dsu-building-31593 "We asked people what they thought of the DSU building"], accessed 25 October 2016</ref> On the other hand, Sir [[Nikolaus Pevsner]], the noted architecture historian, considered the building, "Brutalist by tradition but not brutal to the landscape ... the elements, though bold, [are] sensitively composed."<ref name="Pevsner" /> Durham City Council's Local Plan notes that the "powerful" building, together with Kingsgate Bridge, "provides an exhilarating pedestrian route ... out into open space over the river gorge".<ref>Durham City Council, [http://www.cartoplus.co.uk/durham/text/11_cc_city_centre.htm ''City of Durham Local Plan''], accessed 5 November 2006</ref> Following a four-year campaign by the [[Twentieth Century Society]], the building was [[listed building|listed]] at Grade II in 2021 as "the foremost students’ union building of the post-war era in England".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://c20society.org.uk/news/listing-success-for-durhams-magnificent-dunelm-house|title=Listing Success for Durham’s Magnificent Dunelm House|date=8 July 2021|website=Twentieth Century Society}}</ref><ref>{{National Heritage List for England| num=1477064|desc=Dunelm House including landing stage, steps and attached walls |grade=II |accessdate=16 July 2024}}</ref>