Ford, Sanand

This project, just outside Ahmedabad, is the Ford Motor Company’s second production facility in India. The flat, 460-acre site contains 420,000m2 of vehicle and engine assembly plants, along with a test track. The shops in each plant are laid out along a central axis, connecting an administration block, cafeteria, and courtyard. Offering a sense of depth, the plan enables workers to approach each shop via the shortest possible route. With outside temperatures exceeding 40° Celsius, the administration blocks include façades that provide heat-mitigating shade. After passing the administration blocks, employees see partly assembled automobile bodies moving along elevated conveyors.