Ford announces new research and engineering center in Dearborn

Ford outlined plans to completely reinvent the research and engineering center it operates close to its global headquarters in Dearborn, Michigan. The company hopes the new campus will allow its engineers to bring products and technologies to the market quicker than they can in 2019.

Located on Oakwood Boulevard, the future home of Ford’s research and development center is the brainchild of Norwegian architecture firm Snøhetta. It was designed with integration, interaction, and co-location in mind, according to the Blue Oval. Computer-generated renderings show a massive, meandering complex with glass walls and wood ceilings that exude an unmistakably Scandinavian flair. This slice of Oslo pelted into the Detroit landscape will be impossible to miss, for better or worse.

While Ford isn’t about to let anyone wander into its prototype-building division, it wants to give members of the community it operates in access to its R&D headquarters. Workers and residents will share pathways, public spaces like parks, coffee shops, restaurants, and, in time, little autonomous pods. That’s why the entire complex is moving closer to Oakwood Boulevard. That the new location means Ford can keep its staff in the old buildings while it builds a new one is a real boon, too.

Ford predicts it will inaugurate its central campus building by 2025. The facility will house over 6,000 engineers and designers from its various vehicle development teams, though it could later morph into a latticework of buildings with enough space for a 20,000-strong workforce. The project represents a significant investment in the Blue Oval’s home state, and construction work will be carried out at the same time as the ambitious restoration of abandoned Michigan Central Station in Corktown.