Sainsbury Centre — Attraction in Norwich

The sainsbury centre is a place quiet and contemplation but at the same time filled with such interesting and fascinating antiquities, sculptures, pictures. It is lovely to walk around, not so big as to feel overwhelming but just nice to see everything on show. It has decision exhibitions also which are an extra cost ( the centre itself is FREE to visit and that includes the parking as long as you collect a ticket from reception inside the centre). There is an open access shop which sells lots of lovely books, toys and momentos plus a cosy little coffee area selling drinks and snacks. The place is light and airy with the coffee shop looking out on the parkland. Around the centre is a pleasant circular wooded walk - not too taxing- with lovely vistas of the lake and benches to sit with your flask of tea and sandwiches. Dotted about are more sculptures. If you want to meet friends, have a quiet moment, a nice little walk, a break from the hustle and bustle, bathe in a bit of art and art history in tranquil surroundings, this is the place for you. The staff are lovely, very attentive and great...

It's not easy to find on the UEA campus, signage could be improved, and the car park is small. There are only a few permitted areas to park and you have to go into reception to obtain a free permit and then walk all the way back to your car to display it. It's an impressive building and houses an interesting collection of artifacts, some dating back over 2000yrs old. But it's not very well organised. There's no clear route round, so you end up flitting about, wondering if you missed anything, and after an hour we believed we had seen everything inside. There are exhibits outside but the weather put us off exploring those. We ended at the café which was expensive, and despite having nearly 3hrs before closing, they advised they had thrown all the sandwiches away (what a total waste) and had no hot food left! In all I awarded this 3 stars because it's free to visit, but it's not somewhere I plan to revisit...

A startlingly modern Norman Foster building from 1978! The main exhibition space is free and displays art and artefacts, paintings and sculptures, weapons and tools from all times and places, in an intentionally and pleasingly disordered way, with no preferred route for visitors. It's uncluttered and enjoyable to wander through, and the minimal accompanying text encourages you to form your own impressions of the objects.

It's wheelchair accessible, with a café made unusually inviting by a huge wall of glass. Study spaces and library are sequestered, yet form a visible and vital part of the centre. A few sculptures spill out onto surrounding fields. The gift shop is more interesting than most, with lots of art books and novel (if pricey) card games and ornaments. There are spaces above and below for special (chargeable) exhibitions.

Hard to find at the end of the UEA campus, but well worth...