Case Study
415.402.0888 | MKThink.com
General Motors Corporation Warren, MI Warren Tech Center Modernization
Back-to-the-Future:
1950s Principles Inform Today’s Vehicle Engineering and Design Integration MARK R. MILLER, AIA, LEED Project Director Mark led the project from initial pitch and conceptualization through design, initially as a director at KMD and subsequently, as principal of MKThink.
CHALLENGE | General
By the 1990s, with additions
Motors needed to modernize
and changes to operations, the
its 680-acre campus and
campus no longer aligned with
4,000,000-sf, 50-year-old
modern design and engineering
Warren, MI design center around
principles. The Warren Tech
Mark continued to advise GM on the Macro Project and led the Design Guidelines, Campus Wayfinding Design, Strategic Plan for the Design Center, and Concept Design for the Visitor Center and Experience.
a fundamentally different
Center needed to evolve to keep
strategy: from Brand Distinction
pace with the technology of the
and regionalism towards global
vehicle engineering industry.
vehicle engineering and design integration. Further challenging
APPROACH | The initial,
the ambition were legacy
3-year leadership of KMD followed
complexities, including a historic
by the 5-year leadership of
campus and building framework,
MKThink, organized a world-class
along with outdated systems
team of architects, engineers, and
infrastructure on an urban scale.
specialists. The multidisciplinary team solicited input from key
CONTEXT | In the early STEVE KELLEY, AIA Project Director Steve led the team that designed the overall Campus Master Plan for the Vehicle Engineering Center. Owing to his direction of the historic preservation, the campus earned National Historic Landmark distinction. With funded earned from tax credits for the landmark status, Steve led the restoration of the historic Saarinen curtain walls and the design of the Visitor Center experience.
stakeholders and staff through interviews, town hall meetings,
1950s, Alfred P. Sloan, the
and surveys. The team introduced
legendary Board Chairman of
an analytic framework that
General Motors Corporation,
connected human performance
teamed up with architect
and physical improvements and
Eero Saarinen and landscape
focused on leveraging utilization.
architect Thomas Church to
The framework laid out detailed
create a pioneering vision for
guidelines and principles to
the modern workplace through
coordinate large-scale, multiyear
the integration of design and
construction and renovation that
engineering. The resulting
allowed uninterrupted business
Warren (Michigan) Tech Center,
and engineering operations.
become the most influential, modernist workplace experience of its era.
the IDEAS company for the built environment
415.402.0888 | MKThink.com
General Motors Corporation Warren, MI Warren Tech Center Modernization
PROJECT DATA
STRATEGY | As Project Director of the A/E team, Mark Miller, AIA proposed to reposition the design from “formal
TYPE WORKPLACE LOCATION WARREN, MI DATES 1997 - 2006
design expression and workplace efficiency measures” to a model of “integrated design focused on a high performance workplace and ROI”. The team pioneered data-driven workplace evaluation processes and space programming methods. These informed a competition-winning strategy that
SIZE 680-acre campus 1.4 million sf renovation 1.0 million sf new construction
SERVICES SCOPE Space Programming Master Planning Design Master Architect Historic Preservation Design Guidelines
consolidated design and engineering efforts into a focused core campus. The revitalized core provided GM with measurable qualitative and quantitative advantages that respected the historic Saaranen-Sloan legacy while extending it to a contemporary workplace experience and campus design. This meant integrating the stylized and well kept west campus with the industrial, less-tended east campus. A new landscape feature provided the physical link, and the new 10-story, 1,000,000 sf Vehicle Engineering Center (VEC) served as the practical and symbolic anchor. The VEC was the tallest building north of Detroit and
ANALYTIC FINDINGS • •
•
•
•
$1 billion / 10 year facilities budget to achieve goals Collaboration through consolidation at multiple scales of workplace Realignment of workplace adjacencies by function not department Flexible engineering space adjustable to the pace of products cycles Reintegrating of landscape and environment into physical workplace experience
extended laterally into a new reflection lake that featured an Event Island for corporate and public gatherings. Detailed design guidelines directed immediate and future construction and renovation. Business plans were developed for each building to correlate capital investment ROI to product-centric and collaborative workplace objectives.
RESULT | The 10-year engagement culminated in the Warren Tech Center, an award-winning, high performance global center. Highlights of the project include: • Flexible building systems that increased collaborative space 35% and condensed individual space 24% •
Modernization of a vehicle engineering center, which employed 10,000 engineers
•
National Historic Landmarks distinction by National Park Service, which enhanced the brand and earned tax credits of $150M+
•
Integration of architecture and site design with product placement, marketing, and branding
•
Branded wayfinding that crowned campus integration
the IDEAS company for the built environment
415.402.0888 | MKThink.com
General Motors Corporation Warren, MI Warren Tech Center Modernization
SLOAN AND SAARINEN LEGACY GM WARREN TECH CENTER, WARREN MI Inspired by vehicles for vehicles, the campus design manifested vehicular movement and optimism for the future of engineering and productivity.
CAMPUS MASTER PLAN A railroad track divided the vehicle engineering center from the corporate offices .
The
project team
bridged this divide with a pedestrian overpass that connects the two sides and a central park that serves as a tribute to the headquarters ’ historic core .
These
design
features introduced a perpendicular axis that unifies the campus in an architectural sense and a business one .
the IDEAS company for the built environment
415.402.0888 | MKThink.com
General Motors Corporation Warren, MI Warren Tech Center Modernization
NEW VEHICLE ENGINEERING CENTER The new 10-story, 1,000,000 sf Vehicle Engineering Center (VEC) served as the practical and symbolic anchor of the renovated
Campus . This VEC was the Detroit and
tallest building north of
extended laterally into a new reflection lake that featured an
Event Island
for
corporate and public gatherings .
VIRTUAL REALITY ‘EGG’ This concept explored and defined the relationship between emerging visual technologies and the workplace
SITE as BRAND EXPRESSION The Lake and Event Island create connections between the formal workplace and exterior experiences, big and small
the IDEAS company for the built environment