Forum wins architectural award

The Forum stands on the site of the old library

The building which houses BBC East and Norwich Library has won a major architectural award.

The Forum, designed by Sir Michael Hopkins, has been given the Royal Institute of British Architect's (Riba) regional award.

East winners also include: Advance Dental Clinic, Chelmsford; Wakelins near Newmarket; Beaufort Court in Kings Langley; and The Black House, Cambs.

Northamptonshire's the Pen Green Centre was an East Midlands winner.

The Forum is a £65m glass-fronted building in the centre of Norwich.

RIBA award winners in the eastern region 2004 Pen Green Centre, Corby - Greenhill Jenner Architects Advance Dental Clinic, Chelmsford - Richard Mitzman Architects Beaufort Court, Kings Langley - Studio E Architects The Forum, Norwich - Hopkins Architects Wakelins, Nr Newmarket - James Gorst Architects The Black House, Cambs - Mole Architects

It stands on the site of the old Norwich Library which was destroyed by fire in 1994.

In addition to BBC East and the Millennium Library, the ultra-modern building also houses the Origins visitor centre, open learning facilities and a restaurant.

Riba says the building is an "architectural tour de force and major contribution to urban cultural and social life in Norwich, pulsating with the people and their activities".

The Advanced Dental Clinic won the award partly because of its "immensely restful and cheering interior", says the Riba.

The Pen Green Centre, Corby, is praised by Riba

The Wakelins was praised for being "an antidote to the sentimentality of the renovated building".

Beaufort Court was seen as a "demonstration of how to absorb technology" in a building.

While the Black House showed "how to design a low cost, low energy dwelling, generous in accommodation, where every square quarter metre of floor space justifies its cost".

While the Pen Green Centre "appears to be the kind of place that makes the most of staff skills, makes adults pleased to be a part, and children reluctant to leave".

Last year the winners included the £3.7m visitor's centre for the Sutton Hoo Anglo-Saxon burial site in Suffolk and the £12m Ercol Factory at Princes Risborough, Buckinghamshire.