Bentley Motors has unveiled its new Design Studio, converting one of the luxury marque’s most historic buildings on site, the famous ‘Front of House’ with a fresh design and architecture conceptualised by Bentley’s very own design team.
The official opening was marked by Bentley’s Chairman and CEO, Dr. Frank-Steffen Walliser, fellow board members and Bentley’s 4,000-strong workforce in a special event hosted by celebrated architect and television personality, George Clarke. Colleagues were given exclusive insights into the building before it becomes a fully secure environment, keeping Bentley’s design language of the future firmly under wraps.
Dating back to 1939 and the origins of Bentley Motors in Crewe, the building has been a cornerstone of Bentley’s legacy having hosted celebrated visitors including Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and many others. The new studio is approximately double the size of the previous Design Studio, including a new third floor that was added to the original building, a mixture of create and renovate where possible, as Bentley maintains its focus on site sustainability for its carbon neutral factory.
The result is a design space that keeps the character of Bentley’s history, maintaining continuity to the past and present, however redefining rules and creating inspiration for around 50 designers to set the future evolutions of Bentley’s exterior and interior design.
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This new, creative environment also encourages ultimate collaboration as for the very first time under one roof, the new Studio will include designers from colour and trim, Bentley’s bespoke division Mulliner, and the increasingly pivotal role of UX (User Experience) and UI (User Interface), creating the future of how drivers will interact with all elements of their car.
Dr. Frank-Steffen Walliser, said: “We are currently steering the biggest Bentley design revolution in our history and so to inspire our designers and wider team with an innovative and creative environment that enables the ability to drive the creation of Bentley’s future BEV models, is a necessary positive next step to create the next great chapter for Bentley Motors.
“Having the ability to form a truly collaborative group within one space will offer a step change in how we work together and that holistic team will enable us to truly achieve success by design.”
As well as the biggest design and product revolution in Bentley’s history, the headquarters in Crewe, or Dream Factory as it is known, is preparing for this future with a level of site investment never seen before in the luxury automotive industry.
Following from the recent openings of an Excellence Centre for Quality and Launch, and the ongoing construction of a new Paint Shop and BEV assembly line, the new Design Studio maintains Bentley’s commitment to restoration where possible, rather than recreation.
This is perfectly encapsulated by taking what the original Front of House was famous for – it’s original brass 1939 stairwell – lovingly restored for the new building and placed in its original position with a plaque signifying where old meets new with the addition of the new floor.
Andreas Lehe, board member for manufacturing, said: “The modernisation of our site, while at the same time respecting our origins, is something I am particularly proud of in this building, and it gives me great delight to say that our talented design team have a new home they can be proud of. This is just the next step in our state-of-the-art site transformation as we continue to revolutionise our headquarters into benchmark truly digital, innovative, highly-flexible facilities.”
