Coventry University has announced that it has name its new flagship Faculty of Arts and Humanities building after legendary music icon Delia Derbyshire.

Delia Derbyshire (1937 – 2001) was a pioneering musician and composer of electronic music, born in Coventry. She is best known for her ground-breaking work with the BBC Radiophonic Workshop and her iconic realization of the theme from Doctor Who.

She was awarded a posthumous honorary doctorate by Coventry University in 2017.

The Delia Derbyshire Building will open in phases, starting this month, and will be fully opened in 2023. It will have a ‘hyper studio’, designed for cross-disciplinary projects, and immersive studios with the virtual reality and mixed reality technologies.

The new complex will also be open to the public with a gallery space, café and events atrium where students, staff and visiting artists can showcase their work to members of the community.

“Delia Derbyshire once claimed that the best thing her parents gave her was her name: it trips off the tongue with innate musicality and a hint of the mysterious,” notes Mark Ayres, Composer and Sound Designer for the BBC. “In the ten years during which she created amazing sounds within the BBC’s Radiophonic Workshop, Delia produced a body of work that continues to inspire and amaze, contributing massively to that organization’s standing in British Broadcasting history.”

“That her name will now be attached to a building designed to educate, nurture and encourage future generations is utterly apt, both testament to and continuation of her extraordinary legacy. She would be as honoured as she would be humbled.”