Textile factory and JLR plant scoop awards
ACONVERTED former textile factory used in pop videos and Jaguar Land Rover’s new engine plant have been recognised by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA).
The West Midlands winners include The Compound, a converted former textile factory in the Jewellery Quarter, which has been used by singer Ed Sheeran for a pop video and household names such as Mini, Tesco and Microsoft for filming.
The building features a 25-seat cinema, bar, art studio and apartments and was designed by Jewellery Quarter practice BPN Architects.
RIBA’s West Midlands branch also cited Jaguar Land Rover’s huge Engine Manufacturing Centre near Wolverhampton.
The £500 million factory opened in 2014 and allowed the luxury car brand to start manufacturing its own engines on site for the first time in a generation, employing around 1,400 staff.
The centre was designed Arup Associates.
The annual awards recognise projects of exceptional architectural merit with winners now considered for a national award and potentially the prestigious Stirling Prize.
The four other projects handed RIBA West Midlands awards at the ceremony in Birmingham by this week were:
Alan Walters Building, University of Birmingham, by Berman Guedes Stretton;
Croft Lodge Studio, Leominster, by Kate Darby Architects;
Remembrance Centre, National Memorial Arboretum, Staffordshire, by Glenn Howells Architects;
St Michael’s Hospice, ford, by Architype.
Natalia Maximova, chairman of the West Midlands judging panel, said: “This year’s winning projects prove that good architecture should allow its user a space and time to absorb and to reflect.
“The selected designs frame our experience of the buildings and spaces rather than dictate it.
“They highlight the fact there is no true architecture without a clear vision and a strong concept.
“It is a year of quieter and well-mannered design, nevertheless, no less confident and powerful for that reason.” Here-