THE Goodwood home of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars has been presented with a regional award by The Royal Institute of British Architects as part of the 2004 architecture awards.

Designed by British architects Nicholas Grimshaw & Partners (designer of the renowned Eden Project in Cornwall), the new Rolls-Royce plant is located on part of the Goodwood Estate, close to the Goodwood Motor Circuit, on a site of natural beauty. It aims to produce 1,000 cars a year. The contemporary building complex is partly sunk into the ground and features a "living roof".

Plant life, combined with landform and drainage features, have a major part to play in structuring the site and integrating the whole complex into the surrounding habitat.

In total more than 400,000 trees and shrubs have been planted as part of the landscaping.

Projects by Frank Gehry, Studio Daniel Libeskind and Foster and Partners were among the RIBA 2004 winners.

The awards were announced at a special dinner in London in the run-up to Architecture Week 2004.

In presenting the Rolls-Royce award, the judges said: "The attention to detail is stunning and the building is wonderfully inspirational, exuding confidence and pleasure.

"This is clearly a building worthy of the famous Rolls-Royce marque and equal in quality to the cars produced there."