The University Design Forum is delighted that Warwick University (Founder Member) and architects Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios (Founder Member) are a recipients of a RIBA National Award 2023 for their Faculty of Arts Building.

Designed by FCBStudios, the building brings together the departments and schools of the faculty under one roof.

Providing a world-class centre for teaching and research, it includes an antiquities room, cinema, theatre studios and a media lab, along with multi-purpose events and exhibition spaces.

Sitting at the heart of a campus which is designed to have a parkland feel, the building was conceived as four light-filled pavilions grouped around a central stair, sitting amongst the mature trees of its site.

The footprint was designed to keep existing large trees including oaks, pines and poplars. Innovation is at the very core of the building structure, with four distinct pavilion buildings connected by a full-height atrium, creating an open space for creative thinking, and cross collaboration across the arts.

The public realm extends into the exhibition, social learning, and café use on the ground floor. An internal “street” provides a route through the building. Lit from above by natural light, it is designed to be a flexible space, providing breakout areas for the auditoria, theatre performance, and cinema spaces that open onto it. Large moveable walls provide opportunities for performances or exhibitions to utilise the whole of the ground floor.

James Breckon, Director of Estates said “It’s a huge honour for our beautiful new home in the Faculty of Arts building to be recognised at a national level at the RIBA awards…”

“The building is designed to encourage collaborative working and to inspire creative learning and research across and between disciplines. It’s already become a much- loved space for students and colleagues from across the University…”

Other university buildings recognised with National Awards were:

• Courtauld Institute of Art, London by Witherford Watson Mann Architects
• Laidlaw Music Centre, for University of St.Andrews by Flanagan Lawrence.