The National Brownfield Institute (NBI) is a world-class research centre that provides the facility to develop modern methods of building through innovation and partnership with the construction industry, focusing on the practical application of future brownfield regeneration and remediation through the work of research teams, leading policy development and commercial services.

The NBI houses some of the latest facilities to support business engaged in brownfield regeneration, including laboratories to undertake testing of soil samples, water and site conditions.

The £17.5million project benefited from £14.9million of funding from the government’s Getting Building Fund, part of the Levelling Up programme, for the West Midlands. City of Wolverhampton Council worked closely with the Black Country LEP and West Midlands

Combined Authority (WMCA) to secure the funding with the remainder provided by the Government’s Towns Fund.

The partnership funding has allowed for investment in state-of-the-art technology including Spot, the agile, mobile robot dog, designed by Boston Dynamics as well as the latest wearable and hand- held laser scanning devices used for high quality reality capture of buildings and sites.

Igloo Vision, an immersive visualisation suite, bringing a new dimension to data visualisation and analysis, provides businesses with access to equipment which stimulates collaboration, simulation and visualisation. Businesses supported by the NBI will be able to showcase their products, designs and ideas on one of the largest shared immersive spaces in Europe.

The Igloo provides a unique group space for visualising a range of data on a 360° wrap around screen, including site mapping data, geological information, concept designs, interactive VR walkthroughs and 3D laser scan data in one immersive workspace. The ‘Nomad’ functionality of the Igloo also provides live 360° video streams from any site in the world to be beamed back to the igloo, allowing people in the facility to walk through a brownfield site from the comfort of the NBI.

The NBI offers bespoke, fully funded support to local, regional and national businesses for brownfield remediation, regeneration and development. Services include: