Coventry office celebrated as best in class at UK’s top workplace awards

The Prof. Lord Bhattacharyya Building at the University of Warwick (@warwickuni) on Lord Bhattacharyya Way, Coventry was named among the best workplaces in the country at the British Council for Offices (BCO) annual National Awards, taking home the highly coveted Innovation award. 

The BCO’s respected National Awards programme recognises top quality office design and functionality and sets the standard for excellence across the office sector in the UK. The final event, hosted virtually by acclaimed broadcaster Jeremy Vine, gathered the office industry’s leading figures to celebrate the best-in-class talent as the winners from the 2020 Regional Awards programme vied to take home the National Award for their category.

The BCO judges lauded the Prof. Lord Bhattacharyya Building, home to the national automotive innovation centre at the University of Warwick, for its ingenuity in bringing together a range of difficult design requirements. The building was praised for its simplicity, something hard to achieve given the immense complexity of the workplace.

The BCO panel was impressed by the openness of the centre, with judges stating that the exterior and the interior of the building gave a sense of calm and composure. All of these features were achieved while remaining impressively sustainable, thanks to the use of timber and renewable energy.  

Tony Hordon, Chair of the National Judging Committee, commented:

“The Prof. Lord Bhattacharyya Building is a triumph of ingenuity and practical design, and provides the perfect platform for the work being done by researchers within. It stands as proof of the energy, creativity and know-how in the Midlands office sector, and is thoroughly deserving of its award.”

Richard Kauntze, Chief Executive of the BCO, said:

“This building really is quite spectacular. The Professor Lord Bhattacharyya Building is a testament to the power of innovation and creative thinking at our universities and in the wider building sector – it is therefore a very worthy winner of our Innovation award.”