Engineering buildings opened by Sir James Dyson

The James Dyson Building and the Dyson Centre for Engineering Design at the University of Cambridge officially opened today.

The technology hub was designed by Nicholas Hare Architects and funded in part by a £8m donation from the James Dyson Foundation, and will give some of the world's brightest young engineering students access to advanced laboratories.

The James Dyson Building for Engineering will support world leading research in areas including advanced materials, smart infrastructure and electric vehicles. Fibre-optic sensors in the foundation, piles, columns and floor feed back live data, about temperature and strain – providing a picture of how the building is behaving. The result is a building that’s more of a living creature than a passive block of material: we can ask the building how it’s feeling, and the building can reply.

The Dyson Centre for Engineering Design will teach students about the design process – and provide space for over 1,200 undergraduate engineers to conduct their research.

"This new space for Britain’s best engineers at the University of Cambridge will catalyse great technological breakthroughs that transform how we live."
Sir James Dyson

Find out more about the project here.