Ford Australia’s design studio has undergone a $12 million expansion.
The company has released photos of the facility, which has doubled in size and will get another $2.3 million worth of studio technology infrastructure by year’s end.
The investment comes after Ford spent $1.9 billion in research and development in Australia between 2016 and 2019, followed by a $500 million spend in 2020.
The company says it’s on track to spend a similar amount this year and remain Australia’s largest automotive employer.
The design studio, which is home to more than 2500 engineers, designers and other technical specialists, is located in Melbourne and was first opened in the 1970s.
More than 200 designers work on Ford vehicles for Australia and global markets, with the Ranger and Everest having been designed within these walls.
The 2300m2 expansion has added 100 new workstations, an extended clay modeling workshop, a virtual reality review space, and a new five-axis gantry milling centre for use by the team’s 40 clay modellers.
There are also new break-out areas and collaborative spaces, with a more open-plan layout featuring fewer individual offices and more natural light.
That includes a 1100m2 internal courtyard where vehicles can be viewed in natural light away from prying eyes.
The expansion was led by Australian architecture firm Genton in collaboration with Cachet Group.
XA Falcon 
SX Territory
The design studio was where the Ford Falcon was designed, dating back to the XA of 1972. Also penned here was the locally-engineered Ford Territory.
