On the 6th December, the University of Warwick opened the doors of its newest building, the Faculty of Arts. The £57.5m eight storey building was designed by Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios with support from Buro Happold and constructed by Bowmer & Kirkland.
James Breckon, estates director said: “The building demonstrates a great example of successful professional collaboration from the design and construction sector.”
The building design is based on the principles of collaboration, creativity, inspiration and innovation, and spans 15,000m2 of floor space with four distinct clusters set around a grand central staircase within a full-height atrium. It offers an antiquities room, new cinema and screening rooms, theatre studios and rehearsal rooms, collaboration spaces, a media lab and edit suite along with multi-purpose events and exhibition spaces.
The grounds will feature a grove of trees originating in the historic sanctuary of Delphi, a gift from the Greek Press Association in honour of the work of Professor Michael Scott of the Department of Classics and Ancient History. New artworks specially commissioned for the building include a large-scale ceramics mural by Matthew Raw and a poem by Raymond Antrobus MBE.
Sustainable construction methods have saved approximately 264.8 tonnes of carbon compared to use of cement, and photovoltaic panels installed on its roof generate green electricity.
“The sustainability agenda for this project goes beyond energy efficient design. Constructed out of materials that will last, it has future flexibility built-in and is designed to be both life enhancing and responsive to change.” commented Andy Theobald, partner at FCBStudios.
The building achieves a BREEAM “Excellent” rating and an EPC A energy rating; it is a fully integrated smart building, designed to reduce operating carbon footprint, increase user comfort, and inform operational performance.