The new facility's stunning design was celebrated alongside eight other new buildings at universities around the world, including the University of Oxford’s Stephen A. Schwarzman Centre, and Harvard University’s David Rubenstein Treehouse.
A major asset for the University, the city and the country, the Ray Dolby Centre – the new home of the Cavendish Laboratory – is set to boost innovation in key areas such as semiconductors, quantum communications, new methods of disease detection, and large-scale energy generation and storage.
It was designed by the architecture and interior design practice Jestico + Whiles and constructed by Bouygues UK in partnership with executive design partners NBBJ and BDP. Cavendish scientists worked closely with architects on the layout of the facility, which includes a central 'street' and light-filled concourses, communal spaces and open circulation to encourage chance encounters between researchers, students and visitors.
The building – officially launched at the Cambridge West Innovation District in May 2025, signalling a new era of physics research – is also open to the public, in the form of a quadruple-height atrium, as well as exhibition and outreach spaces.
Named in recognition of a generous £85 million donation from the estate of Cambridge alumnus and sound pioneer Ray Dolby, along with £75 million support from the UK government through the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), the facility stands as a testament to Dolby’s enduring legacy and commitment to scientific innovation.
Much of the specialised research equipment in the new building is being made available to academic and industrial researchers at other UK institutions. Serving as a national hub for physics, the Ray Dolby Centre hosts the new EPSRC National Facility, CORDE (Collaborative R&D Environment). CORDE will foster collaboration between industry and university researchers and enhance public access to new research.
