Jaguar Land Rover Day-Lit Factory Opens In England

Arup Associates finished a grand project for Jaguar Land Rover England, a day-lit factory that cost 1.17 billion dollars and won the RIBA West Midlands Award coming from the Royal Institute Of British Architects. The factory features huge saw-tooth sections with north-facing windows in order to take full advantage of natural light during the day, with the light reaching all the way to the assembly line.

The factory is located close to Wolverhampton and should accommodate a staff of around 1,400. The task was to create a building that has a floor area of 185,000 square meters. This does include offices, production areas, community education center and even social support space, among many others.

[AdSense-A]

Architects chose a modular design with steel roofs and high internal flexibility. There is a clear difference between the specific zones and although there are roof lights present, natural illumination is what makes this project special. Glass is carefully used all throughout this building, offering clear views between areas and towards surrounding landscape. A main focus was put on creating a visual connection between the production areas and offices. Arup Associates declared:

“Innovation, collaboration and the wellness of people at the facility is at the heart of its success. Blurring the boundaries between production and offices through visual transparency, clear movement and social spaces breaks down the barriers of communication between staff.”

Many things can be said about the new factory, with really large halls and a great sense of space in every corner. There are views towards woods visible straight from the production areas and we even have natural ventilation present in offices.

Besides the clear architecture and the light based interior design, technology is also highly modern since we are faced with the largest UK rooftop photovoltaic array. There are 21,000 solar panels that offer around 30% of the energy the entire facility needs. That is why the RIBA award was won, with special mentions appearing in regards to the sustainability measures that were put into this design.