Jaguar Land Rover has opened the doors to new facilities at its Gaydon site in Warwickshire. Called the Advanced Product Creation Centre (APCC), it’s touted as one of UK’s most sustainable non-domestic buildings and the country’s largest automotive creation and development centre.
The APCC brings design, engineering and production purchasing under one roof for the first time in JLR’s history. The site is 4,000,000 m², the equivalent to almost 480 football fields. The new facility delivers more than 50,000 m² of additional “world-class innovative workspace” that has been designed to encourage collaboration throughout the entire vehicle development process – from sketch to showroom. It includes the new Jaguar design studio, co-locating Jaguar and Land Rover design for the first time.
Gaydon’s new offices are rated in the top 10% of most sustainable non-domestic buildings in the UK. Up to 20% of its energy will come from almost 3,000 m² of photovoltaic solar panels on the roof, and the remainder from 100% renewable sources. The same glazing technology as the Eden Project (in Cornwall, UK) has been used to bring natural light into the building wherever possible and make it more energy efficient.
Bringing the outside in, the company has created a natural environment in the expanded facility to promote the personal health, wellbeing and productivity of its employees. A natural landscape is at the heart of the site, creating an ecologically diverse area reusing 80,000 m³ of natural soil excavated during the construction process, the equivalent of 30 Olympic sized pools.
Gaydon, which is more famous as the home of Aston Martin, is actually home to almost 13,000 skilled engineers and designers who are developing the current and next generation JLR vehicles. The centre is also working on future autonomous, connected, electrified and shared mobility technologies that will enable the carmaker’s long-term, sustainable growth.
The Warwickshire site forms part of Jaguar Land Rover’s “Destination Zero” mission, which is an ambition to make societies safer and healthier, and the environment cleaner. The company’s focus is on achieving a future of zero emissions, zero accidents and zero congestion – across its facilities, and through its products and services.
The company says that it has already taken several steps towards Destination Zero, from the development of 3D printed ergonomic gloves and sensory steering wheels to upcycling domestic waste to create high quality materials for its vehicles.
Autonomous, connected, electrified and shared are auto industry buzzwords of today, and JLR uses those words to describe the future as well. The company has already successfully tested self-driving vehicles on inner-city roads and is working in collaboration with academia and leading tech companies to deliver innovation across future vehicles and services. The continuous running of a fleet of Jaguar I-Pace electric taxis in Munich gives insights and lessons to incorporate into the next generation of vehicles.
The Tata-owned company says that it’s on track to deliver its commitment to offer customers electrified options for all new Jaguar and Land Rover models from 2020. The company has confirmed plans to transform its Castle Bromwich facility into the UK’s “first premium electrified plant” where a range of new electrified vehicles will be manufactured, starting with the next-gen Jaguar XJ.
JLR’s most recent model unveiling is the new Land Rover Defender; it features mild hybrid tech from launch and a plug-in hybrid version will be introduced next year.
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