NSAR (National Training Academy for Rail), Northampton

This new academy building is in Northampton and contains a large-scale workshop and training and amenity spaces. The building successfully balances the functional requirements of the brief with the client’s aspiration for a high-quality environment where people will want to be and learn. The client asked for a modern learning environment and, due to its location adjacent to a main train line, a quality building emphasising the culture of Siemens Rail and NSARE.

Working in a team led by engineering, design and planning experts Arup, it is a building with a pleasingly modern aesthetic, the building has a simple, rectangular and mono-pitched roofed form which addresses the railway frontage and is entirely clad in a polycarbonate that glows strikingly when backlit at night.