After 70 years of history at the famous Glass House, Ford’s former headquarters in Dearborn, Michigan, the automaker is preparing to move to a new building.
Last Sunday (16), Ford held an event to inaugurate the new building, which is expected to be completed by 2027.
According to information from the website Car and Driver, which took a tour of the new building, it spans 195,000 square meters over four floors, more than doubling the available space for Ford.
Around 2,000 Ford employees are already working in the new building, the same number that the Glass House could accommodate. However, the extra space will allow for between 4,500 and 5,000 people when fully operational.
The architecture of the new building features some very smart choices. According to Ford, the six design studios in the building are divided into three pairs, and while each studio is visible to the others, no one outside the studios can see the development of new products.
Even the choice of flooring was made with practicality in mind. While most of the building features white or light gray flooring, the flooring in the design studios is a darker gray that mimics asphalt.
Speaking of which, Ford wanted its cars to be able to move throughout the building so that the people developing them could see the final product. For this reason, the foundation of all four floors was designed to support the weight of an F-250.
To facilitate logistics, Ford explained that the facility has a pair of freight elevators responsible for transporting vehicles between the floors.
“The way we’re going to work in the future is very different from how we worked in the past,” said Bill Ford, executive chairman of Ford, to The Detroit News.
“It’s so good to finally be in a building where the product is. At the old headquarters, every time I wanted to see something related to the product, I had to get in my car and drive over there. This is going to be great. I’ll just walk down the stairs and walk around.”
With the new building, Ford wants the new facility to reflect both its history and its future. Seen from the outside, the glass windows are dotted with long, thin lines. Upon closer inspection, the spots are actually individual ovals of the Ford logo.
But when you get even closer, you can spot tiny sequences of letters and numbers that, according to Ford, represent all the patents the company has registered. Each new patent the company files will be added to the glass over time.
Still on the topic of history, the 18,000-square-meter mechanical workshop features state-of-the-art technology but also houses many old tools. When the old workshop was being closed, Ford mechanics took the opportunity to refurbish several old pieces of equipment that had been gathering dust.
Ford is also taking the opportunity to integrate its corporate space with its dealerships. Some of the furniture found in the new headquarters is also being incorporated into Ford dealerships across the country.
“We are working very hard to modernize the company completely, not just the parts that are visible externally but also the way we work,” said Jim Farley, CEO of Ford, to Detroit News.
“It’s expensive. Maybe that’s one of the reasons it wasn’t done before. Maybe that’s part of my contribution to the company — we’re all trying to prepare it for the future. The building is a metaphor for that.”
Photos: Ford. This content was created with the help of AI and reviewed by the editorial team.
