Ford opens its new global HQ to support more than 6,000 employees

In Dearborn, Mich., Ford recently opened its new 2.1 million-sf global headquarters, with design by Arcadis and Snøhetta.

The design of Ford World Headquarters aimed to create a workplace that attracts and retains top talent, especially among younger generations, while also expanding the company’s product offerings and accelerating its EV and autonomous vehicle innovations.

The Dearborn campus consolidates operations, centralizes product development, and provides space for research and engineering.

The technology-enabled, human-centered design creates an intelligent and adaptive corporate research hub that supports more than 6,000 employees in research labs, invention studios, prototyping shops, collaboration zones, and demonstration courtyards.

In addition to architecture, landscape architecture, and engineering, Arcadis provided ICT systems, digital equity, and advanced security design. The building design was developed through a test-bed process at Ford’s Advanced Engineering Center. In an 80,000-sf, four-level facility, Arcadis helped prototype and implement the following solutions:

• The building’s smart systems include drone-enabled surveillance, secure ICT networks, and interactive visitor experiences.
• The network design replaces traditional communication rooms with deep fiber zone boxes to meet rising bandwidth demands and enable high-performance modeling.
• Sustainable smart features include integrated solar shading, smart restrooms with real-time monitoring, and reconfigurable digital infrastructure.
• Collaboration tools support both remote and in-person work.

After the project launched in 2018, about three-fourths of the building—including most of the design studios, showroom, executive offices, workplaces, and amenity spaces—were completed in late 2025.

The remainder of the project—including more studios, workplaces, meeting spaces, and another lobby for employee entrance—will be delivered near the end of 2028.

On the building team: Ford Land (developer), Snøhetta (design architect), Arcadis (architect of record, interior designer, and structural engineer), Snøhetta and Arcadis (landscape architects), Ghafari Associates (engineer of record and MEP engineer), Barton Malow (general contractor).