Foster and Partners' McLaren Technology Centre has won the Building of the Year Award 2005. Presenting the awards at a ceremony yesterday at the Savoy Hotel was Lord Carey of Clifton, former Archbishop of Canterbury and Primate.
Now well established in its seventeenth year, this leading UK independent award makes a significant contribution to the continuing critical debate on architecture. It is sponsored by The Royal Fine Art Commission Trust and British Sky Broadcasting, which will televise the awards ceremony.
McLaren Technology Centre
The McLaren Group is a collection of high-tech companies involved in the design and development of Formula One cars, high-performance road cars, electronic systems and composite materials. Since McLaren began competing in Formula One in 1966, it has established a global reputation as one of the most successful teams in the history of the sport. The McLaren Technology Centre provides a headquarters for the majority of the group's staff. It includes design studios, laboratories and testing and production facilities for Formula 1 and road cars, including the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren.
Viewed on plan, the building is roughly semi-circular, the circle being completed by a formal lake, which forms an integral part of the building's cooling system. The principal lakeside facade is a continuous curved glass wall, developed in part using McLaren's own technology, and shaded by a cantilevered roof. Internally, the building is organised around double-height linear 'streets', which form circulation routes and articulate 'fingers' of flexible accommodation. These house production and storage areas on the lower levels, with top-lit design studios, offices and meeting rooms above. Directly behind the facade a circulation 'boulevard' leads to areas for hospitality and to the staff restaurant, both of which look out across the landscape beyond.
For more in-depth information regarding the McLaren Technology Centre please contact the McLaren Group Communications Department on Tel: +44 1483 261900 / Email: media@mclaren.com
For imagery of the McLaren Technology Centre, please register in the media room on www.mclaren.com
