Students’ Union building receives £150,000 investment package
By Ivan Deverick and Amee Joshi
Dunelm House, the Durham Students’ Union building, will receive a £150,000 investment package from the University to support refurbishments, following a campaign by SU officers.
The SU President Abi Taylor and Community Officer Fran Brandon-Higgs announced the investment on Instagram, writing in a post that following “decades” of “underinvestment in the home of the Students’ Union, the Officer Team have won their campaign to secure investment in A & B level of Dunelm House.”
The A level of Dunelm House will be renovated with new furniture and flooring, and will see an improved wheelchair lift.
The Kingsgate Café will also be fitted with new lighting, plug sockets, and a sound system, as well as new furniture and a paint job. Officers hope it will become a “multi-purpose space”.
The Bar will be removed “instead of gathering dust and taking up room being permanently out of use”. According to Taylor and Brandon-Higgs, and the café will be refitted with a station holding free coffee and tea, and will also feature microwaves, a fridge, and a sink for student use.
Further improvements to the building include the creation of a student pantry, which will provide free groceries “to address the cost-of-living crisis”. This will receive “annual funding for stock and staffing”, and a repaint and refurnishing of the balcony.
Durham SU’s Project Manager for the renovation said in an interview with Palatinate that the project aimed to “improve the spaces in Dunelm House so they better reflect [everyone’s] needs and provide spaces for students to get together, have fun, and socialise.”
The café will be refitted with a station holding free coffee and tea, and will also feature microwaves, a fridge, and a sink for student use
“We’ve already painted and floored the student pantry, but work for the next two projects is expected over the summer break.”
Regarding changes to Kingsgate Café, the Project Manager said “we’ll have a welcome area where students can come in and talk to staff or a student staff member.”
They also said Kingsgate Café would be fitted with new furniture including sofas, chairs, and tables, as he says “currently we have very low-level furniture.”
“We’re going to have some new outdoor furniture plans for the balcony as well.”
They also said that student consultation often led to requests for more study spaces which they would partly cater to, but there would be a caution not to overinvest.
Speaking to Palatinate, outgoing SU President Abi Taylor said she is “so delighted that the University and the Students’ Union are investing in A and B level of Dunelm House.”
She added that, “Having been a student mainly stuck at Elvet Riverside for lectures, it would have made such a difference to have this new renovated space to come to.
“Fran and I are particularly excited about Kingsgate’s renovation- the space will be full of comfy sofas and chairs, a food station and campaigning space. It should be a great place to meet friends, host events and study.”
The Project Manager expects that work would be completed by mid-September, so that all planned changes would be implemented by the start of the next academic year.
Image: Seanna Barrett / Palatinate
