A Model in Modular Design

Dow Automotive's new North American Technical Center offers a flexible work environment.

GM in Lansing is not the only company breaking the mold for industrial plant design. In Auburn Hills, the new Dow Automotive Technical Center serves as a striking example of a high-tech R&D facility built to challenge the assumptions of an entire industry.
        The $15-million, 82,000-sq.-ft. (7,618-sq.-m.) facility was completed in December 2001 for 165 people working in acoustical and impact testing for the auto industry. The goal was to build a flexible technical center that would allow Dow Automotive to consolidate employees in order to encourage communication and teamwork.
        The challenge was how to do this while developing an innovative and open workspace that incorporated raised-access flooring. The solution was a totally modular design that looks radically different from any other facility built by Dow.
        "We built the building for change," says Roger Beck, an outside consultant who worked as the construction project manager for Dow. Beck, who has developed more than 100 different buildings for Dow, said the project was so successful that he uses it as a teaching example for his students at Michigan State University.

Gary Lawrey, vice president of automotive systems for Dow

        Gary Lawrey, vice president of automotive systems for Dow, served as the lead corporate facility executive on the project. "We chose the Auburn Hills location because of our need to be close to our tier-one suppliers and our corporate headquarters," he says. "We utilize a lot of engineering and manufacturing talent from a tooling standpoint, so it is very important that we remain in the Detroit area."
        The challenge on the site came in placing a large building on a small lot, but also in constructing it with an entire interior envelope that is both open and flexible for change.
        "We had a need to integrate all of the individuals as they interface with both the customers and the engineering teams," says Lawrey. "This new building enables us to place all of these collaborators together in cells or work groups. And as we nurture their ideas and their need to grow, it is important that this facility be flexible. That's why the flooring was designed in a node-gridwork pattern. When you want to make a change, you simply pull up the carpet and lift out a panel."
        The building itself was the result of a highly collaborative project team that included Lawrey; Beck; Bren Buckley, vice president of development and project manager for Burton-Katzman Development Co. Inc., the project's developer, construction manager and general contractor; Beau Wynn, project manager for architect Gillett Associates Inc.; and Carol Stewart, architectural and technology products division manager for Navigating Business Spaces.
        The end result was a facility that is not only functional, but conveys a sophisticated, high-tech look.
        "What sets this facility apart is its adaptability and flexibility," added Beck, who is also a director of the Norcross, Ga.-based Industrial Asset Management Council. "We wanted to make sure that this building would be as efficient as possible. This building does not have any square feet that could never be used."