Ford’s Five Goals Drive Dynamics Lab Development
By Peter G. Lynde
Images courtesy of Albert Kahn Associates, Inc., photo: Justin Maconochie.
It was a statement that captured the competitive spirit of the time at Ford.
“We’re lighter, we’re faster…” Carroll Shelby said as he worked with Ford to develop a car that could compete with Europe’s elite.
For Ford’s engineers, lighter and faster was the key to developing the iconic GT40 and establishing another benchmark by which other automakers were measured.
Fast forward nearly 60 years later, the performance-driven passion is as alive today as it was then, but that drive now embodies more than the vehicles they are producing.
Ford Motor Company’s Driving Dynamics Lab (DDL) sits trackside at the company’s Dearborn Proving Ground. As the first new test and office facilities on the campus in a generation, the DDL is envisioned as a place to attract the best and brightest designers and engineers with a facility that not only harnesses the legacy of those who built the company but also positions Ford as a leader in mobility.
A new landmark in Dearborn, the 218,000-square-foot facility combines the company’s most advanced test facilities to date with an atmosphere and adjacencies that foster collaboration and exploration of ideas in a tightly woven space program. If not literally lighter and faster, the design of the new research and testing facility captures that spirit in spaces that are nimble and adaptable, where flexibility bridges many of the design philosophies.
Five Goals Driving Design, Construction
Mobility, technology, sustainability, history, and function-driven design set the standards by which choices were made. The five goals informed layout, form, material selections, and details.
Images courtesy of Albert Kahn Associates, Inc., photo: Justin Maconochie.
Mobility: Captured in spirit and function, mobility is on full display at the DDL. Designed in two phases, the facility encompasses two sections, DDL East and DDL West. Although connected, the construction of the phases overlapped with occupancy and selected spaces opening as construction proceeded in adjacent areas. The combined buildings provide vehicle garages, an acoustics test lab, support space for test track operations, state-of-the-art specialty labs, fabrication shops, lockers, food service facilities, a driving simulator lab, vehicle circulation areas, and more.
Despite a code-required three-hour firewall between the phases, careful attention to building aesthetics creates a seamless impression. The exterior cladding, with alternating bands of light and dark grey panels and windows, conveys a sense of motion in a nod to the adjacent test track. Brick on the lower portions of the building relates to the surrounding structures, both historic and contemporary.
A serendipitous change in space programming also resulted in a new employee café that overlooks Ford’s famed test track, reinforcing the importance of each day’s work as well as setting a standard for future employee dining areas.
Technology: With an emphasis on flexibility, spaces were configured to accommodate a variety of working styles and requirements. For example, to support future technologies and corporate initiatives, spaces can be altered to accommodate additional engineering workstations. Functionally, the open simulation laboratory and testing chamber also can support current and future vehicular technologies.
DDL houses Ford’s highly advanced Noise, Vibration, and Harshness (NVH) facility, which required several unique building elements to function as required. A large semi-anechoic Hybrid Test Chamber (HTC) can create a broad range of temperatures (-40° F to 140° F) and humidity conditions (0% to near saturation) and supports acoustic testing at frequencies as low as 20 Hertz to create challenging conditions for test vehicles and components.
Images courtesy of Albert Kahn Associates, Inc., photo: Justin Maconochie.
An all-wheel-drive six-foot diameter chassis roll dynamometer allows technicians to measure the performance of vehicle components by simulating various wind and road conditions. To minimize potential impact from the HTC to operations in adjacent areas, the dynamometer is mounted to a one-million-pound inertia base which rests on steel coil spring isolators and 20 high-pressure air isolation mounts.
Additionally, the entire HTC sits on a vibration-isolated concrete floor slab. By isolating the structure and protecting adjacent labs and testing areas, accuracy in all testing areas is enhanced.
The potential excessive temperatures in the NVH required that the surrounding walls and ceilings be equipped with high R-value insulation systems and that the structure have thermal breaks to minimize transmission to adjacent areas.
Inside the HTC, conditioned air is delivered through ultra-quiet diffusers and pop-up cooling flaps immediately in front of test vehicles to minimize acoustical interference. Heated seals on the oversized vehicle doors limit frost conditions and contribute to the required acoustic requirements. These features also contribute to the building’s energy efficiency.
Images courtesy of Albert Kahn Associates, Inc., photo: Justin Maconochie.
Another lab seats users in a partial vehicle and wraps them in a 280-degree projection to simulate a whole host of real-world driving conditions. The Low Travel Driving Simulator (LTDS) features a partial vehicle buck and a motorized test stands to allow occupants to experience vehicle functions in a simulated environment.
Sustainability: Honoring Ford’s corporate sustainability commitment, the building was designed to achieve LEED Gold certification. Wood from trees harvested on Ford construction sites provided the aesthetic elements at entrances, lobbies, and key gathering spaces. A highly efficient mechanical system employs enthalpy wheels, variable speed motors and pumps, and high-efficiency condensing boilers as well as incorporating natural daylighting to reduce power requirements.
Other activities contributing to the project sustainability goal include using regionally acquired materials, managing construction waste, maximizing recycled content, and the use of low-VOC emitting materials. The entire facility underwent enhanced commissioned, including the building envelope. During construction a semi-automated mason nicknamed “SAM” laid brick in the façade, protecting workers’ health and safety and increasing efficiency.
History: Walking into the first-floor café, staff and visitors are greeted by “Sharky,” a massive piece of art dominating a wall that is made from the salvaged fan nose cone and wooden blades from the former Wind Tunnel Two Building. A visual nod to the Dearborn site’s history, the display also captures much of the spirit of the goals that drove the design of the DDL.
In addition to reusing materials from Wind Tunnel Two Building to create Sharky, repurposed wood from Ford’s Airport Passenger Terminal roof graces accent walls in the entrance, conference rooms, and collaborative spaces. A main conference space showcases a repurposed ticket window and sliding door from the terminal, reinforcing Ford’s history and culture for employees and visitors.
Function-Driven Design: The new facility supports Ford employees working collaboratively to deliver quality designs on compressed timelines. Once dispersed across the large campus, engineers now have access to other teams and staff in a footprint that measures 70,000 square feet. Creative use of spaces helped manage that footprint and the budget – such as minimizing the need for mechanical spaces by using rooftop-mounted equipment.
DDL remedies the workflow and efficiency challenge Ford experiences when related departments are scattered across a vast campus. It creates unity and cohesion between product engineers and test technicians while improving the employee experience. The proximity and reduced travel times mean the work is more efficient and of higher quality in clean and stable environments.
Images courtesy of Albert Kahn Associates, Inc., photo: Justin Maconochie.
Strong Partnership for Right Solution
While completed over 36 months, minimizing disruptions to Ford’s operations at the Dearborn Proving Grounds demanded an aggressive schedule with meticulous coordination between the designers, engineers, contractors, and owner. Completion within budget was achieved by seeking cost-efficient options without negatively impacting functionality. Early-release bid packages, trade-specific engineering packages, and numerous sub-phases protected the schedule and minimized the potential for disruption to operations on the adjacent test track.
Throughout construction, safety was a focus, made even more critical by proximity to the test track and ongoing operations in adjacent buildings. The result of all safety activities was no lost time on more than 130,000 hours of construction activities. Near the end of the 36-month schedule, during punch list activities, COVID could have disrupted the opening, however timely alterations to worker safety supported an on-time completion.
Similar to the development of the GT40, that aggressive approach and shared risks between parties have produced a world-class engineering destination for vehicle testing and innovation. An anchor for both Ford’s campus development and the city of Dearborn, itself, the Driving Dynamics Lab embodies Ford’s research-driven culture. It opens doors to unify teams for cross-function projects.
PETER G. LYNDE, PE, is Senior Vice President and Principal with Albert Kahn Associates, Inc. He can be reached at peter.lynde@akahn.com.