Ford Motor Co. in Dearborn today announced plans to move from its iconic Dearborn Glass House world headquarters to a more modern and spacious facility beginning in November. Plans also call for the present HQ building to be demolished and turned into a park.
The automaker’s new home will be at its nearby Hub Product Development Center, which will be renamed the Henry Ford II World Center and adopt the 1 American Road address currently used at the Glass House.
The majority of construction is slated to be completed by the end of this year with work on the final phase finishing in 2027.
“To win in this new era, we must work more closely together than ever before,” said Bill Ford, executive chairman, and Jim Farley, CEO, in a joint letter to employees. “Our new headquarters is designed to make that happen, bringing thousands of our engineering, design, and technology team members together in one collaborative space — twice the size of our current HQ, and built to accommodate double the employees — to innovate and solve problems faster than ever before.”
The new headquarters will provide Ford with 2.1 million square feet of space on four floors with room for 4,000 employees. Glass House, which has been Ford’s HQ since 1956, has 950,000 square feet of space, 12 floors, and a capacity of 2,000 workers.
When integrated with Ford’s existing Research & Engineering and Trackside facilities, the new headquarters will provide a campus-like environment along Oakwood Boulevard and due west of the Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation.
“A total of 14,000 employees (will be) within a 15-minute walk of the new World Headquarters building, enabling greater collaboration in practice and proximity,” the leaders said in the letter.
The new headquarters will feature design studios, garages, fabrication shops, conference rooms, individual workspace, open concept collaboration space, three tech-enabled courtyards, and 12 acres of greenspace. It’ll also have a 160,000-square-foot food hall with a rotating menu.
“This is part of a larger investment in our people and our facilities across the globe,” wrote Ford and Farley. “We are committed to providing employees with world-class workspaces, modern technology, and the best tools to do their life’s best work — from our global offices to our manufacturing floors. Our dealers around the world are likewise investing in their stores and service centers to elevate the customer experience.”
Ford says it’s working with the city of Dearborn to decide the best use for the land where the Glass House now sits. One of the leading ideas is a public greenspace.
