Frederick Lanchester Building

This striking building houses the main university library. It was opened in 2001, and in 2019 was upgraded to bring together all elements of academic support into one location, with a new entrance, café and collaboration spaces on the ground floor. It is named after Frederick Lanchester, the Coventry-based designer of the first British petrol-driven car. It is equipped with more than 350 computers, group and individual study rooms, books, journals, and electronic resources across five floors. It also includes the the Lanchester Interactive Archive, the largest and fully digitised archive of the life and work of Frederick Lanchester. Frederick Lanchester – Engineer, Inventor, Genius. Fred is perhaps best known for designing and building the first all-British motor car in 1895 but he also published papers and books detailing the first scientific principles of flight, and theorised about the principles of colour photography before it was reality. At the Lanchester Interactive Archive project we hold the largest collection of sketchbooks, blueprints, correspondence, patents, notebooks, illustrations, puppets, walking sticks, even a road worthy 1932 Lanchester car. Visit the project online www.lanchesterinteractive.org to learn more about Britain’s own, Leonardo Da Vinci. *Volunteering opportunities also available