The Corby Cube is a truly new paradigm for civic buildings in an age of austerity. It demonstrates that world class public facilities can be sustainable and at the very heart of a community’s proactive regeneration.

In 2010 Corby Borough Council was tackling decades of decline, and determined to dramatically regenerate the town. In this same year the Comprehensive Spending Review announced cuts of some 26% to local government funding, pushing councils to rationalise their estates and deliver services more efficiently and effectively. Corby council’s original brief was for an arts building and a civic centre on adjacent sites to create a gateway between the town centre and the historic parkland to the west. Between them the two buildings had to house a flexible theatre, an arts and studio space, a public library, restaurant, café and bars, a council one-stop-shop, and a council chamber and offices.