£54m university biomedical block gets green light

Coventry City Council has awarded planning permission for a £54m Interdisciplinary Biomedical Research Building (IBRB) at the University of Warwick.

The new building will bring together up to 300 biomedical researchers from the university’s School of Life Sciences and Warwick Medical School.

Architects Hawkins\Brown have designed the flagship building at the heart of the Gibbet Hill Campus.

A 400-seat lecture theatre, with a large public entrance, café and exhibition space, will be included in the building.

The £54.3m research building is expected to open in 2020.

Jade Pleass, project architect, said: “The IBRB will provide a world class facility for the world class researchers at the University of Warwick. The building benefits from an exposed part concrete, part Glulam and CLT frame providing visual contrast internally; this manifest externally through the use of precast concrete cladding and anodized aluminium ‘fins’.

“This mature and robust palette demonstrates the university’s commitment to achieving high quality design and maximizing the use of Offsite Manufacturing methods. We are proud to have led the design of the IBRB, which sets a benchmark for future buildings on the Gibbet Hill Campus.”