Coventry building crowned best in West Midlands by nation’s top architects

A Coventry building has been crowned the best in the West Midlands by architects. The University of Warwick’s new Interdisciplinary Biomedical Research Building (IBRB) has been awarded West Midlands Building of the Year by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA).

The £54.3m is at the heart of the university’s leading research in neuroscience, microbiology and infection, cell biology and disease models. Having won the West Midlands title, the building will now be in the running for the national title.

Professor Gavin Perkins, Dean of Warwick Medical School, said: “We are delighted to have our new IBRB home recognized in the RIBA Regional Awards. The building is an excellent research center and brings together staff and students in a collaborative space.”

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The building has five floors of laboratories, each floor representing a different theme: neuroscience, infection, cell biology/development, plus a 400-seat lecture hall and social and collaborative learning spaces.

Professor Miriam Gifford, Head of the School of Life Sciences added: “We are extremely pleased to hear that IBRB has won a regional RIBA award. The environment that was created when the building opened provided an inspiring space for research and teaching.

“The building has enabled collaboration with colleagues in the Life Sciences and Warwick Medical School and, more broadly, has enabled the formation of a community of scientists from many disciplines.”

IBRB is all set to play host to a large-scale art installation by artist Rana Begum soon.

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