The design encourages public access
Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios for Birmingham City University
Contract value: £42.5m
GIA: 10,250 m²
Cost per m²: £4,146/ m²
Civic stature at this state-of-the-art facility anchors the university’s expanding city centre campus. Yet although its external brickwork carapace lends an air of ‘urban castle’, its design encourages public access. A three-level entrance foyer connects north and south entrances and students, staff and public mingle in the timber-lined split-level foyer with a café overlooking gardens.
From here a processional stair links a 500-seat orchestral concert hall, recital hall, organ studio, jazz club and experimentation room. The judges praised how FCBS overcame technical challenges posed by the spaces, especially within a relatively small footprint and budget. Different acoustic requirements received exceptional architectural, environmental and acoustic integration.
Building of the Year sponsored by Artifice Press
See other winners in the RIBA Regional Awards- West Midlands