UEA’s Vice Chancellor David Richardson has opened the new Broadcast House for Journalism and Media students.  

As many gathered to see the final product of a 2-year project, some were surprised by the professional setting of the Broadcast House – creating a work-like environment for its students who had been using the space for over a month before Wednesday’s grand opening. 

Equipped with three soundproof studios, Associate Professor Mark Wells managed to find the broadcast building just days before the studios were due to be ripped out and the building renovated. The COVID-19 pandemic did not hamper the enthusiasm or drive of those behind the renovation and the building was successfully finished just in time for the beginning of the academic year. 

Giff Mulley, representative for the landlord of Broadcast House, worked with project manager John Tully getting the building prepared for the future intake of students. Among the staff and students gathered near the main entrance for this event, there were many who were seeing the finished learning space for the first time, even some who had been involved in the project for over a year. 

Restoring the historical feel of the building, budding Journalism and Media Students are ‘keeping it alive’ said Sarah Barrow, the Pro-Vice-Chancellor of Arts and Humanities at UEA, in her address to the room. The location has a legacy in the world of broadcast, having been the previous home of Radio Broadland and subsequently Heart FM, which is what made the existing rooms and facilities so apt for the students’ needs. 

The Vice Chancellor of UEA, David Richardson, was the last to speak and declared the building open with the cutting of a cake, expressing how ‘it really is everything we want’. 

Words by Aimee Dexter and Aaron Beavis. Photos by Jessie Palmer.