A panel of expert judges has highly commended the Manchester Engineering Campus Development (MECD) by Mecanoo for Architecture Tomorrow 2016, the Architects’ Journal’s selected crop of future projects to look out for.
MECD will be a landmark that celebrates engineering within the world’s first modern city. It will be the new home to the University of Manchester’s four engineering schools and two research institutes from the Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences, boasting 70,590 m2 of interactive learning environments, flexible labs, and bespoke project areas with cutting-edge technologies to support innovation, creativity and collaboration.
The judges said they were intrigued by the design’s business-like aesthetic and its referencing of the city’s history. One remarked: “Manchester has these heavy industrial building and you can see its industrial heritage in this design.” Another added: “It looks like it will be a real centre of excellence and, if you’re going to have that, you have to have excellent buildings.”
The upcoming projects included in Architecture Tomorrow will be exhibited at the MIPIM UK property fair (19-21 October 2016). The awards element was introduced this year, with an overall winner plus two highly commended projects selected by a prestigious panel of expert judges.