Factory 2050 scoops top industry design award

11th July 2016

Factory 2050 has been named Project of the Year at the Constructing Excellence Awards.

The revolutionary, glass-walled reconfigurable factory, which sits at the heart of the University of Sheffield's new advanced manufacturing campus, was recognised at the regional awards ceremony on Friday (1 July 2016) in Leeds. Architects Bond Bryan and construction group Interserve who worked on the landmark building together will now go through to the national finals later in the year. Executive Chair of the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC), Professor Keith Ridgway, said: -We are delighted that Factory 2050 has been recognised in this way. The whole project is about innovation in manufacturing and new ways of working in the future. This was captured by the architects and builders and we are delighted with the result. Factory 2050 is home to the AMRC's Integrated Manufacturing Group (IMG), which has installed cutting-edge manufacturing and assembly technologies, advanced robotics, flexible automation, next generation man-machine interfaces and new programming and training tools to drive its research. Ben Morgan, Head of IMG and Factory 2050, said: -We are thrilled to hear this news and it is credit to the project team behind the build. Factory 2050 through its design and innovation is allowing the AMRC Integrated Manufacturing Group to develop and deliver cutting edge technology to industry throughout the UK and beyond. Factory 2050 opened late last year as part of the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) with Boeing. It is now operational and has 45 staff and a full workload. Initial projects include a programme to take aerospace manufacturing technology into the construction industry, explore future digital factory technologies for building commercial aeroplanes and investigate digitally assisted assembly technologies which could help to fill a looming skills gap in the aerospace sector. Factory 2050 aims to repeat the success of the AMRC's Factory of the Future by attracting advanced manufacturers and highly-skilled engineering jobs to the new Advanced Manufacturing Innovation District a driving force for development in the Sheffield City Region. The site will continue to grow, and recruit up to 70 staff, including talented young engineers who will have access to some of the most advanced reconfigurable manufacturing technologies the world has to offer.