A NEW £10m university building will be hideous, a monstrosity and absolutely lacking in taste, councillors said today (Tuesday, July 8).

But the members of Durham County Council’s central and east area planning committee then voted overwhelmingly in favour of granting planning permission for Durham University’s new Ogden Centre for Fundamental Physics.

The councillors’ comments will be an embarrassment for the North’s leading university, which commissioned the world-renowned architectural practice Studio Daniel Libeskind, led by the man who created New York’s Ground Zero, to design the building, which will stand on what is now a car park off South Road, Durham City.

Cllr John Lethbridge said it was absolutely lacking taste, Cllr Katherine Dearden called it strange and angry-looking, “like something children would watch on television”, while Cllr Mark Davidson said: “Whoever designed that building, I hope they don’t design anything for me, because it’s hideous.”

Cllr Patrick Conway said it was a monstrosity and Cllr Bill Moir chose the term carbuncle; and both also criticised the University’s £50m Palatine Centre headquarters, opened nearby in 2012.

The University says the design is “unique” and will give a clear and recognisable identity in the context of Durham’s unique architectural heritage.

Council planning officer Barry Gavillet called it “contemporary”, while conceding it would not be to everyone’s taste.

Committee chair Cllr Paul Taylor said even the Normans, who built Durham Cathedral, had less-than-full support for their “skinny windows”.

Planning consent was granted by six votes to one.

The building will house two world-leading research centres, the Institute for Computational Cosmology and the Institute for Particle Physics Phenomenology.

The University has already been promised £3.35m from the Ogden Trust and £1.5m from the Wolfson Foundation towards its costs.