Factory of the future in the master plan of a packaging plant

Located in Drzewce, near the city of Lublin, in Poland, food packaging company's Ecopet new factory is part of a larger masterplan by the architecture firm Unism, that aims to change the future of large-scale developments in rural landscapes. Positioned on a narrow topography with a six-metre height difference between the highest and lowest points of the site, the building is built on two levels. The structure is hidden beneath the ground, forming a green roof that blends in with the surrounding terrain.

The architecture also develops extensively in the underground part, concealing most of the volume while only the entrance emerges from under the green roof in a soft arch formation. The underground factory develops a large structure under the ground. The designers have created a linear layout on the ground floor of the building containing three main areas: the storage of raw materials, the production line and the storage of finished products.

The upper level of the factory, on the other hand, will be open to the public and will include the visitor centre, conference facilities and a research centre dedicated to ‘advances in environmentally friendly packaging’, as well as suitable work spaces for office staff. Developed in collaboration with Arup's engineering team, the project includes automation of the production line and the use of autonomous mobile robots in the storage facilities to increase production.