Snøhetta collaborates with Ford on Headquarters & Campuses in Detroit and Dearborn

Ford has commissioned Snøhetta as the design leader to re-envision its Headquarters and Research Campus in  Dearborn, Michigan, as well as its new urban campus in Detroit’s Corktown neighborhood. The new Corktown facilities will serve as an innovation hub for Ford’s vison for the future of transportation: leading a plan to reconceive urban mobility solutions including smart, connected vehicles, roads, parking, public transit, and autonomous and electric vehicles.

City of Tomorrow

As Ford envisions the future of mobility, Ford and Snøhetta will rethink existing cities in addition to creating new urban  spaces and mobility systems through responsible and sustainable urban planning, product design, and business practices. New and innovative roadways, parking facilities, and integrated pedestrian connections are just some of the design considerations that will highlight the positive impact of Ford’s future mobility technologies. Ford plans to implement the first City of Tomorrow study in Corktown, with other cities in mind for the future. 


Corktown Campus

The new Corktown campus will broaden Ford’s connection to the Detroit community and set an example of positive development strategies for the growing city. The design team will collaborate with preservation architects to reuse and redevelop existing buildings, integrating them with new facilities and public spaces. The most prominent among these projects includes the redevelopment of Detroit’s Michigan Central Station, completed in 1914 by the Warren & Wetmore, and Reed and Stem who also designed New York City's Grand Central Terminal. The restoration and redevelopment of this historic train station, which has been shuttered for over 30 years, will house many new facilities for both Ford and the general public. These new buildings and re-envisioned public spaces will be conceived in collaboration with the Corktown community and input from city officials.


Dearborn Headquarters & Research Campus

Along with the Corktown campus, Ford is continuing to redevelop its existing facilities for Research, Engineering and Administration at their campus in Dearborn, Michigan, now with Snøhetta as the Design Architect.  The visioning process has already kicked off with an extensive user research phase to understand Ford’s overall culture and company organization. Throughout the summer of 2018, the design team will work to define the components of the program, with the conceptual design of the Dearborn campus to be completed later in the year.

Press Release_Snøhetta collaborates with Ford.pdf

PDF 3.1 MB
Download

Kelly Tigera

New York

Share

Get updates in your mailbox

By clicking "Subscribe" I confirm I have read and agree to the Privacy Policy.

About Snøhetta

For almost 40 years, Snøhetta has designed some of the world’s most notable public and cultural projects. Snøhetta kick-started its career in 1989 with the competition-winning entry for the new library of Alexandria, Egypt. This was later followed by the commission for the Norwegian National Opera and Ballet in Oslo, and the National September 11 Memorial Museum Pavilion at the World Trade Center in New York City, among many others. 

Since its inception, the practice has maintained its original transdisciplinary approach, and often integrates a combination of architecture, landscape architecture, interior architecture, product design and art across its projects. The collaborative nature between Snøhetta's different disciplines is an essential driving force of the practice.

Today, Snøhetta has a global presence, with studios in seven locations spanning from Oslo to Paris, Innsbruck, New York, Hong Kong, Shenzhen, and Melbourne.

Snøhetta is currently working on a wide range of international projects, including the Shanghai Grand Opera House, the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library in Dakota, Harbourside redevelopment in Sydney and La Croisette in Cannes, to name a few. 

Recently completed works include Vertikal Nydalen in Oslo, Beijing City Library, the renovation of Musée national de la Marine in Paris, Orionis - the planetarium and observatory of Douai, Airside in Hong Kong, Esbjerg Maritime Center in Denmark, 550 Madison Garden and Revitalization in New York, as well as Volum lamps for Lodes.

Some of Snøhetta's previous projects include Ordrupgaard Art Museum expansion in Denmark, the Cornell University Executive Education Center and Hotel in New York City, Le Monde Group Headquarters in Paris, including the wayfinding and signage, Europe’s first underwater restaurant, Under, the redesign of the public space in Times Square, the expansion to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Lascaux IV: The International Centre for Cave Art, Powerhouse Brattørkaia and design for Norway’s new banknotes.

Snøhetta’s working method simultaneously explores traditional handicraft and cutting-edge digital technology. At the heart of all Snøhetta’s work lies a commitment to social and environmental sustainability, shaping the built environment and design in the service of humanism. Every project is designed with strong, meaningful concepts in mind – concepts that can translate the ethos of its users and their context.

Among many recognitions, Snøhetta has been awarded the European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture – Mies van der Rohe Award for the Norwegian National Opera and Ballet, and the Aga Kahn Prize for Architecture for the Bibliotheca Alexandrina. In 2016, Snøhetta was named Wall Street Journal Magazine's Architecture Innovator of the Year, and the practice has been named one of the world’s most innovative companies by Fast Company two years in a row. In 2020, Snøhetta was awarded the National Design Award for Architecture, bestowed by Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum. In 2021 and 2022, Snøhetta’s Forite tiles won the Sustainable Design of the Year by Dezeen and Best Domestic Design by Wallpaper* in 2022, and the wayfinding system for Le Monde Group Headquarters was acknowledged with Monocle Design Awards. In 2023, Snøhetta won a number of awards for the Esbjerg Maritime Center and was named Architects of the Year at the Monocle Design Awards, in 2024 included a number of awards to Beijing Library and the BIA 2024 Award to Snøhetta and in 2025, Snøhetta was recognized with the OPAL Special Award for Sustainability, among others. 

Disclaimer: All materials provided by Snøhetta are intended exclusively for editorial use to communicate the specified project(s). The use of this material for commercial or third-party purposes is strictly prohibited. No material may be edited or altered from its original state in any manner. Credit must be given for all content used, acknowledging Snøhetta and/or the photographer or creator as the source. By using Snøhetta's press material, you agree to these terms and conditions.

 

Contact

Snøhetta Akershusstranda 21, Skur 39 N-0150 Oslo, Norway

press@snohetta.com

snohetta.com