Half Dose #8: TAG McLaren HQ

The TAG McLaren Group wished to consolidate its operation around Woking, Surrey, England into one large complex with "design studios, laboratories, research and testing facilities, electronics development, machine shops and prototyping and production facilities for the Team McLaren Mercedes Formula One cars and the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren."



Norman Foster designed a environmentally sustainable building, a low bean-shaped structure that hugs a man-made lake used for the building's cooling system.



According to Foster and Partners' page, "the building is organized around double-height six-meter wide linear 'streets', which form circulation routes and allow daylight into the interior of the building providing all employees with an awareness of the outside." Like Foster's other buildings, McLaren's Headquarter's is a sleek, well-detailed piece of architecture that is novel but also environmentally friendly.

Links:

- Foster and Partners, their homepage and their project page.
- McLaren, the client's official page.
- Mercedes Enthusiast, a scanned article on the Technology Center.
- Some images here, here and here.