First Automotive Works Research & Development Center
To meet First Automotive Works goal of a world-class facility producing 2.3 million vehicles annually, SmithGroup responded with a contiguous complex on a site equivalent to 95 football fields. The configuration fosters collaboration among a projected employee population of 7,000 while addressing employee safety and health concerns.
Client
First Automotive Works
Location
Changchun, China
Markets/Services
Science & Technology, Workplace, Architecture, Structural Engineering, MEP Engineering, Landscape Architecture, Corporate Research & Development
Size
5,037,500 GSF, 130 acres
It also reflects the company's position as China's preeminent automotive enterprise. The project incorporates an administration building, a comprehensive research and development center, a project team office building, two 2,500-vehicle parking structures, and a central distribution center supported by 1,100 meters of tunnel network to serve the entire facility.
The design team incorporated traditional Chinese planning principles, developing the facility's programmatic organization and orientation according to ancient methods of balancing the flow of energies within a space. This informs decisions regarding circulation paths, placement and number of entrances, views and sight lines, materials selection, shapes of building components, and design of the surrounding natural environment.