Cafe, gallery and library set for iconic building

A cafe, art gallery and university library will be built inside one of a city's most prominent buildings.

Norwich University of the Arts (NUA) has been redeveloping the Grade II listed former Barclays on Bank Plain after buying the site in 2022.

Since then it has added services including a canteen and students' union, and said its further plans would help secure the future of an "iconic building".

The city council approved the proposals for its next stage of development.

Three ATMs on the London Street side of the building will be removed as part of the plans while existing entrance doors will be replaced.

Jeremy Smeeth, NUA's chief operating officer, said renovations which have already taken place have "placed the building at the heart the university's academic and community life."

In plans submitted to the council he added that NUA wanted "to bring this iconic building back to life and ensure its long-term future for the university and the city."

Built in 1926, 20 Bank Plain went on to become Barclays' regional headquarters and was said to have the longest banking counter in the UK.

It was sold in 2003 to what became the Open Youth Trust, and along with housing office space it regularly hosted family events and live music.

However, Open experienced serious financial troubles and went into administration shortly after the first covid lockdown began in 2020.

NUA bought the building in 2022 and has said it sees it as "a key asset for the university, [and] the city."

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