The University of Warwick’s Faculty of Arts building has been named as runner up for the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) Stirling Prize 2023.
Designed by Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios, the cutting edge £60 million building – known by students and staff simply as FAB - brings together the departments and schools of the arts faculty under one roof.
Providing a world-class centre for teaching and research, it includes an antiquities room, cinema, theatre studios and a media lab, along with multi-purpose events and exhibition spaces. Sitting at the heart of a campus which is designed to have a parkland feel, the building was conceived as four light-filled pavilions grouped around a central stair, sitting amongst the mature trees of its site.
The footprint was designed to keep existing large trees including oaks, pines and poplars. Innovation is at the very core of the building structure, with four distinct pavilion buildings connected by a full-height atrium, creating an open space for creative thinking, and cross collaboration across the arts.
The public realm extends into the exhibition, social learning, and café use on the ground floor. An internal “street” provides a route through the building. Lit from above by natural light, it is designed to be a flexible space, providing breakout areas for the auditoria, theatre performance, and cinema spaces that open onto it.
Professor Stuart Croft, Vice Chancellor, and President of the University of Warwick said: “Our vision was to have a space that inspired our students and staff to create and collaborate together, and we have achieved that to spectacular effect.
“The beautiful, thoughtful space we have created means we now have a truly world class building to match our world class faculty, while also minimising our carbon footprint. This is a wonderful recognition of all the hard work, passion and expertise of all those who made our vision a reality.”
Keith Bradley, Founding Partner at Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios, added: “It was an honour for the University of Warwick’s Faculty of Arts Building to be on the shortlist – the only university project, the only project outside of London and a project that was of a different complexity and scale.
“We are proud to have worked with an exceptional client and design team to conceive the Faculty of Arts Building. It’s joyful to see that the building has become a place to meet and the most popular space on campus for social study.” Earlier this year, Warwick opened a new ‘home’ in the heart of Venice – as part of an ambitious £100m programme of investment in the arts and humanities.
That included a major £42m upgrade of Warwick’s acclaimed Arts Centre, the largest outside of London, while new arts and humanities courses have been added to its prospectus to meet growing demand. The FAB building was one of six on the final shortlist for the prestigious award, and the only one outside of London.
