Cambridge University had raised concerns over research

Its future had been placed in doubt because of concerns that the quality of its research was not good enough.

Cambridge's general board voted unanimously to keep the department open, although six of its 17 academic staff must take early retirement.

The university's vice-chancellor, Alison Richard, said "longstanding concerns" had been addressed.

Campaign

Leading architects, such as Lord Foster, who designed of London's Millennium Bridge, had backed a campaign to keep open the department, which has 150 undergraduate and 100 graduate students.

Comedian Griff Rhys Jones, whose son is studying architecture at Cambridge, took part in a protest.

The university authorities considered closing the department after two reports in 2001 and 2003 had raised concerns about its quality.

A closure date of 2008 - when the last of the current students are due to finish their courses - was suggested.

However, the general board voted instead for a "new academic strategy", placing more of the department's focus on "sustainable design".

This change in policy, the university said, was the reason for the planned early retirements.

Professor Roger Parker, chairman of Cambridge's Council of the School of Arts and Humanities, said: "We regard the closure of any department as a very grave step.

"So it is particularly pleasing that we have been able to overcome the difficulties and reach a positive solution, one that will enable architecture to become a leader in research, as it already is in teaching."