LEISURE
WARWICK ARTS CENTRE COMPLETES IN UK’S CITY OF CULTURE National contractor Willmott Dixon has recently completed work on the new and improved Warwick Arts Centre situated on the University of Warwick’s campus.
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he Warwick Arts Centre now boasts a large, new building with a number of newly-created spaces including three digital auditoria with high-end digital projection and sound, as well as a ground-floor gallery to exhibit contemporary art, sculpture and photography. The building also features a new foyer offering a larger, more environmentally-friendly and attractive entrance for visitors, in addition to a new restaurant and bar to ensure the complete experience. The project also involved the refurbishment and upgrading of the existing building. The £25.5m investment in Warwick Arts Centre was supported by an award of £4.2m in National Lottery funding from Arts Council England and is a key venue in Coventry’s year of UK City of Culture in 2021. Designed by Ellis Williams Architects with Bond Bryan as delivery architect and project managed by Turner & Townsend, the project aims to make Warwick Arts Centre the region’s leading cultural centre and a place where creativity, collaboration and innovation thrive.
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The Warwick Arts Centre features a large, attractive entrance for visitors
Peter Owen, Managing Director at Willmott Dixon, said: “We are very pleased that, after a difficult time for the much-loved arts industry, Warwick Arts Centre will later this year be welcoming audiences back to a space that supports and enhances everything the arts has to offer. The project involved a number of challenges, not least the constraints of a tight site in the middle of campus and the changing requirements related to COVID-19, so a collaborative approach was vital. “We have a strong relationship with the University of Warwick, first established during our work on the university’s Oculus Building, then their Sports Hub and Wellness Centre in 2019, and earlier this year the IBRB. This means we are able to truly understand their campus vision and help make it a reality. “We are very proud to have become a trusted advisor to the university and to have built a relationship which allows us to contribute to the wellbeing and development of not only students but also the people of Warwickshire and beyond.”
