The Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team recently broke ground for a new headquarters in Northamptonshire, England. The project, which will be the first completely new Formula 1 factory in the UK since the McLaren Technology Center opened in 2004, is being designed by Ridge and Partners LLP.
The project will comprise 400,000 sf over several buildings including a factory and a wind tunnel. The three-part factory will be built directly across from the Silverstone Grand Prix Circuit. One building will house the design, manufacturing and marketing resources of the team; a second building is occupied by the new wind tunnel; and the third will convert and convert the existing factory premises as a central hub with personnel facilities and a logistics center. For the first time in Aston Martin’s history, the new headquarters will house all manufacturing resources on a single campus.
The new wind tunnel will use the latest steel belt rolling road system and state-of-the-art flow imaging track area. The site will include the wind tunnel, model support and production facilities. Commissioning of the wind tunnel is scheduled to begin in the third quarter of 2023.
The project also claims to be the first “smart factory” in Formula 1. It was designed from the ground up as a wireless, adaptable, optimized facility where all information streams, monitoring systems and manufacturing processes are connected via data in the cloud. The technology will enable headquarters to constantly adapt to the cyclical manufacturing processes of a Formula 1 team.
The completion of the new headquarters is planned for the end of 2022 or the beginning of 2023.
