The Sustainable Design award is given in recognition of the building’s environmentally sound status. The Laboratory has many features that make it a green building, including, among others, a connection to the University’s combined heat and power plant, the use of natural ventilation and automatic window opening, and the use of materials in its construction that do not adversely affect the environment.

The Peoples’ Choice for New Buildings was awarded by a popular vote by local people. The digital laboratory received more votes from the residents of the local area than the other nominated buildings.

WMG Director Professor Lord Kumar Bhattacharyya said: “The Digital Lab brings together WMG’s expertise with sciences including psychology, medicine, computer science and mathematics to provide an attractive one-stop solution to the digital needs of small and medium sized businesses in the region. We are delighted that people of the West Midlands have now declared that they find the building itself as attractive as the leading-edge technology it contains.”

The International Digital Laboratory is a £50 Million state-of-the-art facility designed to facilitate major collaborative research opportunities, create effective knowledge transfer between academia and industry and generate new knowledge and skills with an impact on business, society and the economy.