Story added: 30th June 2015

The Forum

In the build-up to race-day, we’ll be putting the spotlight on each of the twelve famous city landmarks that runners will pass on the Run Norwich race-route.

There’s no chance you’ll miss landmark number three, the Forum – not just because of its imposing size and striking modernist design, but because runners will pass it twice on the route!

First passed within the first kilometre as runners make their way up Theatre Street towards Chapelfield Gardens, it’ll probably be the second time that is the most memorable: runners will pass directly in front of the building’s iconic glass face moments before crossing the finish line.

As one of the race partners, the building’s own charitable Forum Trust have worked closely with main event organisers, the Norwich City Community Sports Foundation, to bring the race to life.

The building itself will also play an important role in the race, hosting the three-day pre-race Expo event, as well as serving as the main operational base during the race.

The newest of the twelve historical and culturally important landmarks on the route, the Forum was built to mark the millennium in the East of England.

Designed by Sir Michael Hopkins and costing £65 million, it is a stunning example of 21st century design.

The main section forms an enclosing horseshoe, made from handmade bricks, while the glass façade forms a stunning entrance and embraces the marvelous Gothic church tower of St Peter Mancroft.

Originally, the site housed the Norwich Central Library, before the building was destroyed by a fire in 1994.

Funded by the Millennium Commission with support from Norfolk County Council, Norwich City Council and the business community, the Forum was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II in July 2002.

A popular community space in the city since it was opened, the Forum, which is run by a self-financing charitable trusts, hosts a year-round line-up of events, exhibitions, activities and entertainment, most of which are free.

Open to the public every day, the Forum houses the Norfolk & Norwich Millennium Library, the 2nd Air Division Memorial Library, Norwich Tourist Information Centre, a busy, open-plan café, a Pizza Express restaurant, BBC East and a City College Norwich project to assist young people into paid employment. Inside The Forum there is also a free to enter digital gallery, the Fusion Screen, and a 120-seat auditorium, the Curve.

The Forum is one of the Norwich 12, a collection of heritage buildings in Norwich deemed of particular historical and cultural importance. Read more about the building’s history here.

For information on what’s on in the Forum, visit their website here.