Crumbling concrete has been found in five buildings on the University of Sussex’s Falmer campus.
Work is now being undertaken to replace the panels in one of the buildings, with all five having been made safe after it was found last year, the university said today.
No buildings needed to be entirely closed aside from during the period of initial assessment.
Reinforced aerated autoclaved concrete (RAAC) was a popular choice in post-war public building projects. The Falmer campus is largely made up of brutalist concrete buildings, constructed in the 1960s and 70s.
A University of Sussex spokesperson said: “Following an inspection last year, Reinforced Aerated Autoclaved Concrete (RAAC) panels were found. We proactively undertook an extensive assessment of campus buildings, and found that five had roof panels containing RAAC.
“The majority of these panels were assessed to be structurally secure. Where defective panels were found, we immediately commissioned work to make the buildings safe, which has been completed.
“Additionally, work has also already started to replace the RAAC panels on the first of the affected buildings, with minimal disruption.
“The safety of our community remains our top priority and we continue to monitor and assess the buildings affected. Throughout, we have communicated transparently with our community about this.”
The University of Brighton’s buildings are unaffected. A spokesman said: £The most recent survey of our estate, which took place over the summer, did not highlight any obvious use of RAAC in any of our buildings constructed between the 1950s and mid-1990s.
“We’re now assessing other buildings where modifications or extensions have been added to ensure that no RAAC is present, though we consider the overall risk to be low.
“We will continue to seek advice and updates from professional and government bodies on this issue and will engage structural engineers if further surveys highlight any areas where RAAC has potentially been used.”
And another brutalist public building, Hove Town Hall, is also free of Raac, the council said, along with its other corporate buildings.
A spokesman said: “We’ve previously checked our schools, social care and other corporate buildings – and didn’t identify any RAAC issues.”
