The Ray Dolby Centre wins Best New Building in regional award

The Ray Dolby Centre won a Greater Cambridge Design and Construction Awards 2026, in the Best New Building (over £3m construction value) category.

It also came highly commended for engineering-led design in the David Mackay Award for Engineering and Sustainability.

The five-floor 32,900m² space – new centrepiece of the Cavendish Laboratory designed by architects Jestico + Whiles and constructed by Bouygues UK – was officially opened in May 2025.

Judges said about the Ray Dolby Centre: “This, the third Cavendish Laboratory, is a stunning addition to the West Cambridge site, not only aesthetically with its polished white concrete exterior, not only symbolically with its welcoming approach to public access to large parts of the building, but also as an exemplar of function-led design, embracing and meeting the highly demanding needs of the research and teaching community, from ‘clean (filtered air) rooms’ to areas of nil vibration, to the specific research and experimental requirements of microscopy, optics and semi-conductors to name but a few.  It’s all electric and deliberately adaptable to meet future needs. We loved the airy interior with its displays of ‘Old Cavendish’ memorabilia, its copper ceilings and the chatter of visitors.

“This project successfully addressed the challenging brief for specialist research facilities, with the design informed and supported by its exacting users, and requiring both contemporary and potential future needs to be anticipated. As a result, it will be both long-lived, adaptable and with high environmental performance through its operating life.”

The judging panel was chaired by Dame Fiona Reynolds, former master of Emmanuel College Cambridge and former director-general of the National Trust. The submission process and judging process were jointly facilitated by the Greater Cambridge Shared Planning service (GCSP) and the Cambridge Forum for the Construction Industry (CFCI) volunteer trustees.

Image :

View into the public wing at dusk. © Kilian O’Sullivan