The McLaren Technology Centre is as high-tech and innovative as the Formula One racing cars designed and built inside it. It even looks like a giant race-track complete with sinuous curves and hairpin bends.

Designed by David Nelson of Norman Foster and Partners, the centre has won numerous architectural awards and is rumoured to have cost around £300 million.

The main facade is a continuous, semi-circular curved glass wall. The circle is completed by a lake. Water from this and other lakes is used to keep the building cool. The space inside is split into 18m-wide ‘fingers’ separated by wide corridors that bring daylight right into the heart of the building.

The two-storey Visitor Centre is completely buried underground with a circular roof light the only clue to its presence. It’s designed to make a minimal impression on the landscape. The surrounding grounds have been landscaped and add to the ecological theme.