The Advanced Product Creation Centre forms the focal point of a wider redevelopment of the Jaguar Land Rover campus, set on a former RAF base in the English countryside of Gaydon, Warwickshire. The facility follows in a long tradition of vehicle research and development on the site since the 1970s – by companies including Rover, Ford, British Aerospace and BMW. But the placement and design of buildings had been piecemeal, says Bennetts Associates director Julian Lipscombe. The aim was to create a key entrance to the site, as well as offering updated workspaces – vital in attracting talent in the competitive automotive industry. “It still had that feeling about it, it was quite cold, it was quite sterile,” he says. “One of the key driving principles behind what we were trying to achieve is to create a context which speaks more evidently of the pedigree of Jaguar Land Rover and the importance of the place on design being at the heart of their business.”
Jaguar Land Rover innovation centre occupies former WW2 airbase
British practice Bennetts Associates designed the research and development hub as kit of parts, taking cues from the car manufacturing process.
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View Article details
- Jessica Mairs
- 03 February 2020
- Gaydon, Warwickshire, UK
- Bennetts Associates
- office
- 2019
A massive CLT roof spans the 50,000 sqm building, which brings together Jaguar Design Studio teams – from engineering, and development to purchasing – for the first time. Beneath it, a series of transparent and opaque spaces give the flexibility to house teams working in varying degrees of privacy. A curving grey wall to one side the building screens off a private showroom, while broad walkways, staircases and a “town hall” linking to more open spaces offer the opportunity for members of different departments to meet, and to host activities from briefings to yoga classes. “The roof is an expression of that community coming together,” he says. “The canopy is timber. It’s warm, it’s sustainable. It’s sending, we hope, very powerful messages about [the brand’s] central themes to do with wellbeing and sustainability.”
Mirroring the design and production process of the brand, Bennetts Associates worked with BuroHappold engineers to devise a largely prefabricated structure. The CLT and glulam roof, the supporting expressed steelwork and concrete elements were produced offsite and pieced together in situ. “We really liked the fact that the way in which the building was made speaks of the way of what Jaguar Land Rover do,” says Lipscombe. “They are a manufacturer and an assembler of cars, and so the fact that their building was made in the same way we really like – part of what we hope is set of subtle references to who they are as a brand.” Early in the process Bennetts Associates knew reshaping the setting for the building would be integral to the process of redefining the site, and brought Grant Associates on board. Paying homage to the great Capability Brown, the landscape studio introduced a “choreographed” arrival sequence placesetting. It introduced a lake, bridge and avenues and some 70,000 trees, which reveal the site gradually to visitors. “We think the landscape is so fundamentally important to the scheme,” says Lipscombe. “What we've created with Grant Associates is a sort of modern interpretation of Capability Brown’s entrance sequence.”
Advanced Product Creation Centre, Gaydon, Uk, 2019
Advanced Product Creation Centre, Gaydon, Uk, 2019
Advanced Product Creation Centre, Gaydon, Uk, 2019
Advanced Product Creation Centre, Gaydon, Uk, 2019
Advanced Product Creation Centre, Gaydon, Uk, 2019
Advanced Product Creation Centre, Gaydon, Uk, 2019
Advanced Product Creation Centre, Gaydon, Uk, 2019
Advanced Product Creation Centre, Gaydon, Uk, 2019
Advanced Product Creation Centre, Gaydon, Uk, 2019
Advanced Product Creation Centre, Gaydon, Uk, 2019
Advanced Product Creation Centre, Gaydon, Uk, 2019
Advanced Product Creation Centre, Gaydon, Uk, 2019
Advanced Product Creation Centre, Gaydon, Uk, 2019
Advanced Product Creation Centre, Gaydon, Uk, 2019
Advanced Product Creation Centre, Gaydon, Uk, 2019
Advanced Product Creation Centre, Gaydon, Uk, 2019
Advanced Product Creation Centre, Gaydon, Uk, 2019
Advanced Product Creation Centre, Gaydon, Uk, 2019
Advanced Product Creation Centre, Gaydon, Uk, 2019
Advanced Product Creation Centre, Gaydon, Uk, 2019
Advanced Product Creation Centre, Gaydon, Uk, 2019
Advanced Product Creation Centre, Gaydon, Uk, 2019
Advanced Product Creation Centre, Gaydon, Uk, 2019
Advanced Product Creation Centre, Gaydon, Uk, 2019
Advanced Product Creation Centre, Gaydon, Uk, 2019
Advanced Product Creation Centre, Gaydon, Uk, 2019
Advanced Product Creation Centre, Gaydon, Uk, 2019
Advanced Product Creation Centre, Gaydon, Uk, 2019
Advanced Product Creation Centre, Gaydon, Uk, 2019
Advanced Product Creation Centre, Gaydon, Uk, 2019
Advanced Product Creation Centre, Gaydon, Uk, 2019
Advanced Product Creation Centre, Gaydon, Uk, 2019
Advanced Product Creation Centre, Gaydon, Uk, 2019
Advanced Product Creation Centre, Gaydon, Uk, 2019
Advanced Product Creation Centre, Gaydon, Uk, 2019
Advanced Product Creation Centre, Gaydon, Uk, 2019
Advanced Product Creation Centre, Gaydon, Uk, 2019
Advanced Product Creation Centre, Gaydon, Uk, 2019
Advanced Product Creation Centre, Gaydon, Uk, 2019
Advanced Product Creation Centre, Gaydon, Uk, 2019
Advanced Product Creation Centre, Gaydon, Uk, 2019
Advanced Product Creation Centre, Gaydon, Uk, 2019
Advanced Product Creation Centre, Gaydon, Uk, 2019
Advanced Product Creation Centre, Gaydon, Uk, 2019
Advanced Product Creation Centre, Gaydon, Uk, 2019
Advanced Product Creation Centre, Gaydon, Uk, 2019
Advanced Product Creation Centre, Gaydon, Uk, 2019
Advanced Product Creation Centre, Gaydon, Uk, 2019
Advanced Product Creation Centre, Gaydon, Uk, 2019
Advanced Product Creation Centre, Gaydon, Uk, 2019
Advanced Product Creation Centre, Gaydon, Uk, 2019
Advanced Product Creation Centre, Gaydon, Uk, 2019
Advanced Product Creation Centre, Gaydon, Uk, 2019
Advanced Product Creation Centre, Gaydon, Uk, 2019
Advanced Product Creation Centre, Gaydon, Uk, 2019
Advanced Product Creation Centre, Gaydon, Uk, 2019
Advanced Product Creation Centre, Gaydon, Uk, 2019
Advanced Product Creation Centre, Gaydon, Uk, 2019
Advanced Product Creation Centre, Gaydon, Uk, 2019
Advanced Product Creation Centre, Gaydon, Uk, 2019
Advanced Product Creation Centre, Gaydon, Uk, 2019
Advanced Product Creation Centre, Gaydon, Uk, 2019