Government turns down listing bid as C20 describes decision as ‘shameful’
Gollifer Associates’ National Glass Centre in Sunderland is set to be granted immunity from listing in a major setback for campaigners hoping to protect the building.
Culture secretary Lisa Nandy is “minded” to issue a certificate of immunity (COI), which would remove a major barrier to any future redevelopment of the site.
Opened in 1998, the building is a cultural and educational centre created to celebrate Sunderland’s centuries-old glassmaking industry as part of the city’s post-industrial regeneration.
It is known for its extensive use of glass, including a glass roof which allows visitors to walk above and see into the building’s galleries, glassmaking workshops, furnaces and studios.
The building closed to the public on 31 July 2026 with the University of Sunderland, which has owned it since 2010, arguing that structural problems with its glass roof made maintaining the site financially unsustainable.
The Twentieth Century Society submitted a listing application earlier this year but this has now been turned down by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) following an assessment by Historic England.
The case for listing is understood to have been undermined by key design elements which were never implemented, including parts of a garden on the building’s roof.
DCMS said it “was concluded that, in its current form, [the building] presents neither sufficient architectural nor historical interest to warrant listing”.
The COI process has now entered a 28-day period during which a review of the department’s intentions to grant immunity of listing can be requested.
The Twentieth Century society said: “For a building this young and a cultural landmark of the city to even be facing demolition is shameful.
“The National Glass Centre should still be welcoming visitors through the doors and supporting glassmakers from across the region in the purpose-built facilities. The campaign to save it will continue undimmed.”
A petition to save the building has so far been signed by more than 42,000 people.
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