Ford Motor Company has decided to pack up and move to another building that will open its doors in November. It is saying goodbye to its current headquarters, the Glass House, located in Dearborn, Michigan, built in 1956, which will be demolished within 18 months after being vacated. The name of the new headquarters will be Ford World Headquarters, and the goal is to bring together the engineering, design, and technology teams in one place.
The idea goes further, as the new headquarters will be part of a larger campus called the Henry Ford II World Center, which will house more than 14,000 employees. This new World Headquarters building is located at what was the former Ford Product Development Center in 1953, where iconic automotive models such as the Mustang and Thunderbird were created.
Ford Motor Company
Headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, USA, Ford Motor Company is a multinational automotive company dedicated to car manufacturing. Founded in 1903 by Henry Ford, it focuses on the design, manufacture, and sale of automobiles, commercial vehicles, and other related services. Its expansion knows no borders, as it is present worldwide, and it is characterized by its legacy of innovation with the incorporation of assembly line production, and its current focus on hybrid electric vehicles through its categories Ford Blue, Ford Model e, and Ford Pro.
Ford packs its bags
After years of being its official headquarters, the Glass House will soon close its doors, and it will even be demolished. This is the decision Ford has made in its quest to expand its headquarters and create an entirely different concept. Since its beginnings in 1956, the headquarters located in Dearborn, Michigan, United States, will cease to be the brand’s home in favor of an improvement. As Bill Ford and Jim Farley explained to employees through a letter, “This is more than a new building; it is a catalyst for innovation and a physical symbol of our Ford+ transformation. To win in this new era, we must work more closely than ever before”.
Ford World Headquarters
With 2.1 million square feet and located a 15-minute drive from the Glass House, the new headquarters will be named the Ford World Headquarters. It is a building intended to bring together the engineering, design, and technology teams, aiming for greater work synergy. But this is only part of the plan, as the larger project intends to create a campus under the name Henry Ford II Global Center, named after Henry Ford’s grandson and CEO from 1945 to 1979.
It is expected to be completed by 2026, to which Ford said, “When completed, 14,000 employees will be within a 15-minute walk of the building.” It will feature a space with six design studios, a showroom for product reviews, a 160,000-square-foot area dedicated to food, wellness and maternity rooms, and more than 300 meeting rooms equipped with the necessary technology.
Henry Ford II World Center
The site that today aims to become a large campus encompassing all activities of Ford’s creation process was, in 1953, the Ford Product Development Center. It was there that the dedication of the first live use of closed-circuit television was celebrated, in the presence of then-President Dwight Eisenhower. What is now Ford’s main headquarters is the place where iconic vehicles such as the Mustang, Thunderbird, Continental, F-Series trucks, Ranger, and Ford GT were born.
