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From People’s University to People’s Palace

Tuesday 3 November 2009

Mayesbrook Mayor

The University of East London’s former flagship building which is part of UEL’s Barking Campus along Longbridge Road was formally launched by Barking and Dagenham Mayor Charles Fairbrass on Tuesday 27 October as Mayesbrook Manor.

Mayesbrook Manor is a fabulous new apartment block which has been transformed to offer a range of stunning apartments, retaining the look and feel of as many of the original features of the building’s 1930s Art Deco interior as possible.

Weston Homes finally purchased the listed building in 2009 having first considered it in 2005 and redeveloped the property so that it met the standards of English Heritage and respected the craftsmanship that went into the original building.

Professor Susan Price, UEL Acting Vice-Chancellor, said: “UEL continues to teach a range of Foundation degrees at the Barking Learning Centre while using the money from the sale of the Barking Campus to complete facilities at our Docklands and Stratford campuses. I am delighted to see what Weston Homes has done with Mayesbrook Manor.”

Bob Weston, Chief Executive of Weston Homes, said at the launch: “This building was designed in the late twenties, and built in the thirties, to help the nation out of recession. Today we are launching the building as Mayesbrook Manor, a flexible and desirable living space, and I believe it is innovative property redevelopment such as this that will lead us out of this current recession.”

Mayesbrook Manor’s superb exterior bas-reliefs depict men and women studying science, arts and humanities and the names of great scientists and academics are carved into the stone above the main entrance and on the first floor balconies, including, Brunel, Einstein, Da Vinci, Rubens, Mill and Cavendish.

Cllr Fairbrass attended the former University site when it was a technical college as a day release student and years later his son completed his teacher training at the site when it was known as North East London Polytechnic. The evening was marked by Cllr Fairbrass pushing the 'red button' at 7pm so that the clock in the Mayesbrook Manor's iconic clocktower restored as part of the redevelopment could chime once again.  The crowd of eighty or so local people cheered and raised a glass of champagne as a dramatic firework display commenced from the roof of the building.

Over the past ten years UEL has spent £170 million on a range of state-of-the-art campus facilities at Stratford and Docklands.

Notes to Editors

The University of East London (UEL) is a global learning community with over 28,000 students from over 120 countries world-wide. Our vision is to achieve recognition, both nationally and internationally, as a successful and inclusive regional university proud of its diversity, committed to new modes of learning which focus on students and enhance their employability, and renowned for our contribution to social, cultural and economic development, especially through our research and scholarship. We have a strong track-record in widening participation and working with industry.

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