 The building won the RIBA Award and Stirling Prize in 1996 and the Civic Trust Award in 1997.The site is situated on the edge of the city of Manchester and lies within the campus of the University of Salford.The brief for the building came from the predecessor of the University of Salford towards the end of 1994 and demanded a building which was a ""fusion of design and technology"" to house the "Spatial, Graphic and Industrial Design Department" of the university.