Automotive Engineering - December 2024 - 11

TECHNOLOGY REPORT
WORKPLACE
Ford Engineering Lab turns 100, hosts new team
The Ford Engineering
Lab, featuring a
limestone exterior
facade, was designed
by Detroit architect
Albert Kahn with
considerable input
from Henry Ford.
Image shows a
portion of the
building's first floor.
" This might be our most forward-looking
team occupying the building that
was the impetus for our future-looking
focus in the very beginning, " Jennifer
Kolstad, Ford Motor Company's Global
Design and Brand Director, told SAE
Media inside the 100-year-old Ford
Engineering Lab's library.
The two-story Dearborn, Michigan
building, which spans two city blocks, is
now the renovated and modernized
workspace for Electrified Propulsion
Engineering Team innovators. " They're
in-space before the research and development
hub opens across the street, "
Kolstad said.
That two-million-square-foot
(186,000 sq m) research and engineering
center is slated to wrap construction
in 2027, with the first phase - a showroom
and studios - slated for completion
in early 2026, Kolstad said. " We're
currently decentralized with skilled
teams scattered across our Dearborn
campus. When finished, product development
will be under one roof, " Kolstad
said about the new, four-story research
and engineering center.
Historical milestones underpin the
character and charm of the revamped
Ford Engineering Lab's 221,000 sq ft
(21,000 sq m) of workspace. A first-floor
hallway leads to Henry Ford's last remaining
office - replete with a majestic
marble fireplace, towering grandfather
clock, and an immense work desk.
Adjacent to the Ford Motor Company's
founder's office is his son's (Edsel Ford's)
office. " A lot of important decisions have
been made here, " senior collections archivist
Ciera Casteel said during a
September 18 press tour of the building.
A second-floor hallway provides an
Before the Ford Engineering Lab was constructed, the site was a factory for Ford tractors. Ford
developed the first mass-produced, lightweight tractor under the Fordson nameplate.
AUTOMOTIVE ENGINEERING
entryway to a walk-in vault. With 8-in
(203-mm) thick walls and a steel inner
lining, the vault was typically stuffed with
business records and substantial cash to
pay employee salaries and bonuses as
well as cover regular business expenses.
At the engineering lab's 1924 opening,
the building featured one of the largest
open office spaces anywhere. That spacious
environment inspired the design
and development of many vehicles, including
the 1928 Model A and the 1949
Ford, which sold more than one million
units in its first production year.
Decommissioned in 2007, the engineering
lab was later revitalized in a
multi-year renovation project that resurrected
features amid modernizations to
lighting (including restoring the original
skylights), electrical, plumbing, air quality,
and other aspects. " Ninety percent of our
global facilities - excluding manufacturing
- will be renovated by 2027, " said Kolstad.
Kami Buchholz
December 2024 11
FROM TOP: FORD; KAMI BUCHHOLZ

Automotive Engineering - December 2024

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