The McLaren Technology Centre was awarded the Royal Fine Art Commission Trust's Building of the Year Award at a ceremony in London yesterday.

The facility, which was officially opened on 12th May 2004 by Her Majesty The Queen, was designed by architects Foster and Partners.

Ron Dennis, Chairman and CEO of the McLaren Group said: "We are very proud that the McLaren Technology Centre has won the Royal Fine Art Commission Trust's Building of the Year award. There are many parallels between Foster and Partners and the McLaren Group and this led to a strong working relationship, a motivational environment for McLaren Group employees and a tremendous architectural statement. We have benefited from close Partnerships at all stages of the process, and in addition to Foster and Partners, our relationship with the McLaren Technology Centre Partners has been instrumental in the facility we have today."

Lord Foster, Chairman of Foster and Partners said, "We are absolutely delighted to have won the Building of the Year Award for the McLaren Technology Centre. We would like to pay tribute to a particularly committed and enlightened client and the close collaboration of the many Partners involved in this highly innovative building."

As part of a long-term strategy for the McLaren Group, the concept was to build a facility to showcase technology and innovation. As well as providing the current technical team with the most sophisticated equipment to optimise its performance, the state-of-the-art facility also acts as an incentive to attract and retain the best engineering talent in the world and provide an impetus for the designers of the future.

The McLaren Technology Centre includes design studios, laboratories, research and testing facilities, electronics development, machine shops and prototyping and production facilities for the Team McLaren Mercedes Formula One cars and the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren.