Gaydon, UK, September, 2019– Jaguar has unveiled its new dedicated design studio in Gaydon, bringing the entire design team into one purpose-built creative space for the first time in the marque’s 84-year history.
Led by Jaguar Design
Director, Julian Thomson, the new studio is the most advanced automotive design
centre in the world, developed to enhance the human creative design process
with world-leading technologies.
The ‘Heart
Space’, a collaborative hub at the centre of the new Jaguar Design Studio, will
bring together the diverse and creative 280-strong team as it designs future
generations of Jaguars.
Surrounding the
Heart Space are bespoke working environments for the Interior, Exterior and Colour
and Materials teams, plus Design Visualisation and Design Technical disciplines.
Jaguar Design
is made up of designers from across the globe and from a range of industry
backgrounds, including fashion, watch-making, sports and gaming. Being drawn
from such different spheres of design helps the team deliver its ‘Jaguar’
interpretation of Britishness using contemporary materials and processes. Those
processes utilise industry-leading technology, including custom-made clay
modelling machines allowing 20 models to be worked on at once, virtual reality
(VR) systems and an 11-m K digital display wall known as ‘The Electric’. The
floor area of the new Jaguar Design Studio measures over 12 000m2 –
an increase of around 33% of the total previous studio spaces based in Whitley.
Julian
Thomson, Design Director, Jaguar, said: “Jaguar has a unique heritage as
a design-led brand and this will always be a central pillar of our DNA. The design
values and philosophy that were created by Jaguar’s founder, Sir William Lyons,
remain the same and this building will allow us to design the very best cars
for our customers, far into the future. In the design team, we understand the
issues that are facing the automotive industry and can respond accordingly
through innovation and creativity.
“The new facility
brings the entire design team together in one hugely creative space. We truly
believe that inspiration comes from interaction and collaboration. Our studio
is fitted with the latest technologies but, just as important, is the diversity
of human expertise and our passion for Jaguar which helps us design the extraordinary.”
The main studios
are named Studio 3 and Studio 4, taking inspiration from the numbers of the Le
Mans-winning Jaguar D-types of 1957 and 1956 respectively, as well as paying
homage to studios 1 and 2 at Whitley, which was the home of Jaguar Design from
1985. The considered naming approach is continued in the meeting rooms, with
half named after iconic Jaguar models and the other half taking their names
from important people in Jaguar history, including founder Sir William Lyons,
designer Geoff Lawson and the actor Steve McQueen.
Studios 3 and 4
house a total of ten clay modelling plates, each measuring 20-m long and
capable of accommodating two clays, with a load capacity of 4.5-tonnes. For the
first time, designers can now place interior and exterior models next to one
another to improve synergy and collaboration between the two disciplines.
Each plate is
fitted with floor-integrated machine
rails to allow double-sided
processing of models by the 3+2-axis Kolb Concept Line CNC clay milling machines,
each fitted with a 1 kw motorised spindle capable of 16 000rpm. The advanced system can
switch between measuring and milling both quickly and easily.
The plates also
feature floor-integrated lifts for the clay models. These provide continuous
height adjustment, enabling the most ergonomic working positions for the Jaguar
modellers.
The studios are
fully temperature controlled to ensure clay remains in the ideal state to be worked
by the 46-strong team of sculptors, while lighting is provided at exactly the
right brightness and colour temperature for optimal vision.
Alister
Whelan, Interior Design Director, Jaguar said: “The whole studio has been
conceived to refine the design process and make it even more dynamic while
maintaining the heart and soul of Jaguar. We consulted the entire design team
to create our new home together as a family. That’s a key part of our ethos because
we want to encourage even more collaboration and synergy between different
design disciplines in the studio, with the community Heart Space at its core.”
Studio 4 faces
north to ensure the purest light flowing in from the outdoor viewing area
through huge glass doors. Models can easily be taken outside to be viewed in
natural light and from a range of distances and angles. In total, the new
Jaguar Design Studio has 906m2 of glazing, including three full-length
skylights which flood the studio with natural light. The deliberately light and
warm nature of the studio is completed by the extensive use of structural
wooden beams.
Viewing models
from various heights is as crucial as lighting, with the plan view of Jaguars
historically incredibly important to designers, from the early sketching stages
through to model-making. Now, for the first time, designers will be able to
scrutinise the models from alternative heights from the Mezzanine, View Room
and The Steps – an amphitheatre-style seating area.
In addition, VR
plays an increasingly important role in Jaguar Design with digitalisation teams
appearing at every stage of the process from sketching through to launch
animations. A VR rig enables designers and studio engineers to test ideas in
the virtual world much faster and more efficiently than ever before. From the
early conceptual stage, the Computer-Aided Surfacing (CAS) team convert the
design sketches into digital 3D models while the in-house Design Visualisation
and Animation (DVA) team works closely with designers and data teams to render
and animate the sketches and 3D models.
The new Jaguar
Design Studio will place a greater importance on advanced material technologies,
too. The Colour and Materials team have more space and technology to investigate
and test new and sustainable resources that continue to demonstrate the heights
of luxury and tactility for the next generation of vehicles, while meeting
Jaguar’s demanding quality standards.
The Colour and
Materials team work across both the exterior and interior, playing a vital role
in creating each vehicle, from devising new paint colours, to conceptualising
the smallest beautiful interior details – the Jaguar print in an E-PACE centre
console, for example.
The Jaguar
Design Studio, designed with Bennetts Associates, is part of the wider Gaydon
Engineering and Design Centre redevelopment.