Bangor University’s Brambell Building, on Deiniol Road in Bangor, has been given Grade 11 Listed Building status.
A Grade 11 listing is assigned to buildings that are of national importance and special interest. This classification acknowledges the significant role these structures play in the UK’s cultural and historical heritage.
The building, which was designed to provide laboratories for the Zoology department at the University, was officially opened on in 1971.
The Brambell Building is a striking cube made of red brick and concrete, featuring strong vertical lines of concrete and glass that define the upper two and ground floors. The middle two floors are recessed and made of unfenestrated brick, supported by concrete pillars that extend to the upper stories. An enclosed concrete stairwell is located on the north elevation, while a fully glazed stairwell is on the south.
In January 2025, the building was listed as Grade II for its “striking and confident expression of Brutalist principles, carefully planned and detailed in collaboration with a leading biological scientist of the period.” It holds special historic interest as a structure purpose-built for teaching and research in biological sciences during the postwar expansion of the University of Wales. It is also closely associated with Professor Francis Brambell and has group value with the Memorial Building and other listed university buildings.
The building was featured in Simon Phipps’ bestselling brutalist series, “Brutal Welsh Architecture” – A photographic exploration of post-war modernist architecture in Wales, and once described by the Guardian Newspaper as “Regular concrete columns stride along the elevations linking the strong horizontals of its inverted ziggurat form and lending it a classical air. The building’s design draws stylistic parallels to the Boston City Hall of 1968 by Kallmann, McKinnell & Knowles, though on a more modest scale, befitting a cathedral city in north Wales.”
The Cadw Listing Description said: “The Zoology teaching and laboratory building was initiated in 1969 and opened by Lord Zuckerman on 9 November 1971, designed by the Percy Thomas Partnership. The project, which cost £450,000 without equipment, marked a significant development for the University College of North Wales, which transitioned from its original location in the Penrhyn Arms Hotel in the mid-1920s to a new campus envisioned in 1962.
“Prominent figure Francis WR Brambell, who led research into livestock welfare, was a key advocate for the building design, emphasising the need for a teaching museum. He passed away during its construction, leading to the building being named in his honour. Lord Zuckerman praised it as the UK’s largest Zoology department, vital for evolving biological sciences due to population growth.
“The building’s Brutalist style features a rectangular cuboid shape, constructed from bush-hammered concrete with precast cladding. Its distinct design includes a colonnade of slender columns and a unique entrance on the northwest side. The six-storey structure incorporates a sunken quad and a central pillar, with a striking façade facing Deiniol Road dominated by a colonnade and ribbon windows. The building continues to be used for teaching and research, and since 2004, houses the Northwest Cancer Research’s Bangor Institute.”
Photo © The Bangor Aye
