TTJ granted the award under the category of ‘Achievement in Engineered Timber’. BDP was the architect for the Business School and ICMA extension project on a prominent site within the University of Reading’s Whiteknights campus.
The aspiration from the start was to create a world-class building which sets academic offices and flexible learning spaces around a social heart-space. Wood is used widely throughout as structural timber for the main roof, cladding for the lecture theater, the main element of an elegant timber curtain walling system, and in numerous pieces of high quality internal joinery and fittings.
The GBP6 million ($9.7 million approx.) extension includes a 50-seat flagship dealing room, complete with Reuters plasma screens and ticker tape, 170-seat lecture theater, café bar, media center, a dedicated PhD study area, as well as seminar rooms and offices.
The building has been made possible by a major donation of GBP5 million ($8 million approx.) by the International Capital Market Association (ICMA).
