It’s not a far move. But it’s a BIG one.
Ford Motor Company announced today that they are moving into a new world headquarters. After running their global operations from its “Glass House” in Dearborn, MI since 1956, the company is relocating its HQ just down the road to what is being called “The Hub”.
“Today marks another important chapter in our company's history. We are proud to announce a new Ford World Headquarters will be at the heart of our upgraded and reimagined Dearborn product development campus, the new Henry Ford II World Center,” said Executive Chairman Bill Ford and CEO Jim Farley in a letter to employees. “This is more than just a new building; it’s a catalyst for innovation and a physical symbol of our Ford+ transformation. To win in this new era, we must work more closely together than ever before.”
Image: Ford Motor Company
The pair went on to say that the new headquarters — which will be twice the size of their current HQ and built to accommodate double the employees — will enable the company to bring thousands of engineering, design, and technology team members together in one collaborative space to innovate and solve problems faster than ever before.
Ford will officially open their new World Headquarters this November, when all employees will be welcome to visit the location to work, collaborate, or simply see the future of Ford for themselves. “Our team is working hard to wrap construction as hundreds of employees are collaborating in the building already. While the majority of the facility will be complete this year, work will continue through 2027 on a final section of the site.”
Images: Ford Motor Company
Once complete, the state-of-the art building will be 2.1 million square feet over four floors. And not only is it designed with innovative workspaces that bring cross-functional teams together to collaborate in practice and proximity, it also enables free movement of products, as it can accommodate a vehicle almost anywhere. The Hub will anchor Ford’s refreshed Dearborn, MI campus — Henry Ford II World Center — and ushers in a new way of working in the name of the next generation of automotive innovation.
There is a historic transformation happening in the auto industry, and Ford says putting leadership, administrative staff and product development teams under one roof will help them move toward the future with a more nimble and efficient operation, effective at attracting and retaining the highest-quality talent.
"To attract the best talent, you have to give them really interesting problems to work on, and you have to give them great places to work," Bill Ford said during a virtual briefing. "We feel that they've got really interesting things to work on, but we didn't have great, in many cases, great places for them to work. And now we do."
And what happens to the Glass House?
If you were fortunate enough to join the Bronco Nation for our Woodward Dream Cruise events in recent years, including the “family photo” in front of the Glass House, you know just how impressive that building is. Who knew those photos would become even more special of a keepsake for us when we took our last photo in August.
“As we continue to adapt our campus for the future, the Glass House will itself be transformed,” said Ford and Farley. “Once our teams have vacated the building, it will be sustainably decommissioned and ultimately demolished over the course of roughly 18 months as we prepare to repurpose the site as an asset to our teams and our community.”
When the Glass House first opened in 1956, it was one of the nation’s largest office buildings occupied by a single company. A place that inspired a generation of great innovators and birthed a long lineage of incredible products. The new Ford World Headquarters is designed to continue that legacy— enabling Ford to continue to invent, design, and develop products that lead the industry so they can compete and win across the globe in a new era.
“This is a pivotal moment. We are not just building the next generation of vehicles; we are building the next generation of Ford.”
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