A NEW building at the University of Warwick has been named the best in the region.
The Interdisciplinary Biomedical Research Building (IBRB) has been awarded the West Midlands Building of the Year award by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA).
The £54.3million building is a key factor in the university’s commitment to delivering world-leading research in neuroscience, microbiology and infection, cell biology and disease models.
The IBRB, which is environmentally sustainable, has five-storeys of laboratories, with each floor representing a different theme – neuroscience, infection, cell biology/development, plus a 400-seat lecture theatre and collaborative learning and social spaces.
Professor Gavin Perkins, Dean of Warwick Medical School, said: “We are delighted with the recognition of our new home in IBRB in the RIBA regional awards. The building is a great research hub and brings staff and students together in one collaborative space.”
Professor Miriam Gifford, Head of School of Life Sciences, said the IBRB had provided an inspiring space for research and teaching students studying life sciences and medicine.
She added: “The building has enabled collaboration with colleagues across Life Sciences and Warwick Medical School and more broadly it has enabled a community of scientists across many disciplines to be formed.”
The IBRB will also be home to a large-scale art installation by artist Rana Begum. Thomas Ellmer, Exhibitions Curator at the Warwick Arts Centre, commented: “We’re thrilled to include Rana Begum’s No.1250 Mesh (2022) in the University of Warwick’s new IBRB. Begum is an artist working at the leading edge of art and architecture; therefore, it feels only right that we locate this beautiful sculpture within a new building dedicated to delivering world-leading research.”
The IBRB building will now go on to the National RIBA Awards.
