This has just come up online and i will do a visit and a report i have not seen any posts or reports on it yet so here is some information on the place till pictures and reports pop up.
Swindon's striking piece of industrial achitecture - and James Bond film location
Opened by the Queen in 1998:the Motorola building
One of Swindon's most recent pieces of major industrial achitecture is the striking and futuristic Motorola Building at Groundwell.
Opened by Her Majesty the Queen in November 1998, the building was designed as a major manufacturing facility for the companies GSM radio transmission equipment and cost an estimated £40 million to construct.
It was completed in just 52 weeks.
The aluminium and glass clad complex covers an area equal to three football pitches end to end and accommodated 1300 staff (before recent redundancies in 2001) in 28,000 sq.m of manufacturing space and 4500 sq.m of offices.
The high-tech exposed steelwork and roof-level services tube at 5.5m diameter is big enough to drive a car through, and proved irrestible to the producers of the Bond film 'The World Is Not Enough', starring Pierce Brosnan, who filmed at the location in 1999 using the factory as a double for a Turkey oil refinery
The Motorola building won the award for best industrial building in the 1999 Structural Steel Design Awards and was highly commended in the British Construction Industry Awards.
Manufacturing of mobile phones ceased at the site in 2001, and the building is currently the European headquarters for Motorola's Home & Networks Mobility.
In 2009, Motorola chose the factory to install the first test-bed in the UK for the new 4G mobile broadband system, which is currently undergoing high-profile trials. Healthcare and medical device supplier Vygon has completed its move to Swindon’s iconic former Motorola factory, with the French-owned saying it will grow and develop in its new base.
Vygon, which celebrates its 50th anniversary next year, spent £15m buying the 46-acre site at Groundwell and transforming the landmark building into its UK headquarters, with bespoke warehousing, state-of-the-art offices and an international training centre.
Parts of the 250,000 sq ft building, which had stood empty since Motorola ceased production in 2006, have been demolished, including three of its four warehouses, and Vygon has built a new 60,000 sq ft warehouse which at 12.5m high is more suited to its needs.
It has also completely refurbished the existing office pod and converted some rooms into training suites which will be used by Vygon staff from across the world – saving on the cost of hiring external training facilities.
The massive operation to find a suitable site for Vygon to expand its UK operations started three years ago and has been managed by Bristol firm Adapt Properties.Healthcare and medical device supplier Vygon has completed its move to Swindon’s iconic former Motorola factory, with the French-owned saying it will grow and develop in its new base.
Vygon, which celebrates its 50th anniversary next year, spent £15m buying the 46-acre site at Groundwell and transforming the landmark building into its UK headquarters, with bespoke warehousing, state-of-the-art offices and an international training centre.
Parts of the 250,000 sq ft building, which had stood empty since Motorola ceased production in 2006, have been demolished, including three of its four warehouses, and Vygon has built a new 60,000 sq ft warehouse which at 12.5m high is more suited to its needs.
It has also completely refurbished the existing office pod and converted some rooms into training suites which will be used by Vygon staff from across the world – saving on the cost of hiring external training facilities.
The massive operation to find a suitable site for Vygon to expand its UK operations started three years ago and has been managed by Bristol firm Adapt Properties.
Healthcare and medical device supplier Vygon had moved to Swindon’s iconic former Motorola factory, with the French-owned saying it will grow and develop in its new base.
Vygon, which spent £15m buying the 46-acre site at Groundwell (2011) and transforming the landmark building into its UK headquarters, with bespoke warehousing, state-of-the-art offices and an international training centre.
Parts of the 250,000 sq ft building, which had stood empty since Motorola ceased production in 2006, have been demolished, including three of its four warehouses, and the famous tube, and Vygon has built a new 60,000 sq ft warehouse which at 12.5m high is more suited to its needs.
It has also completely refurbished the existing office pod and converted some rooms into training suites which will be used by Vygon staff from across the world – saving on the cost of hiring external training facilities.
The massive operation to find a suitable site for Vygon to expand its UK operations started three years ago (2008) and has been managed by Bristol firm Adapt Properties.
How ever Vygon stoped construction last year (2012) and now the site stands unused.
Ian Fleming's Goldfinger pub still stands open in business just down the road from the factory.
Key Facts:
Building size, 23,100 sq.m
Length, 300m
Architect, Shepherd Robson
Year of construction, 1998
Thanks for reading.
Swindon's striking piece of industrial achitecture - and James Bond film location
Opened by the Queen in 1998:the Motorola building
One of Swindon's most recent pieces of major industrial achitecture is the striking and futuristic Motorola Building at Groundwell.
Opened by Her Majesty the Queen in November 1998, the building was designed as a major manufacturing facility for the companies GSM radio transmission equipment and cost an estimated £40 million to construct.
It was completed in just 52 weeks.
The aluminium and glass clad complex covers an area equal to three football pitches end to end and accommodated 1300 staff (before recent redundancies in 2001) in 28,000 sq.m of manufacturing space and 4500 sq.m of offices.
The high-tech exposed steelwork and roof-level services tube at 5.5m diameter is big enough to drive a car through, and proved irrestible to the producers of the Bond film 'The World Is Not Enough', starring Pierce Brosnan, who filmed at the location in 1999 using the factory as a double for a Turkey oil refinery
The Motorola building won the award for best industrial building in the 1999 Structural Steel Design Awards and was highly commended in the British Construction Industry Awards.
Manufacturing of mobile phones ceased at the site in 2001, and the building is currently the European headquarters for Motorola's Home & Networks Mobility.
In 2009, Motorola chose the factory to install the first test-bed in the UK for the new 4G mobile broadband system, which is currently undergoing high-profile trials. Healthcare and medical device supplier Vygon has completed its move to Swindon’s iconic former Motorola factory, with the French-owned saying it will grow and develop in its new base.
Vygon, which celebrates its 50th anniversary next year, spent £15m buying the 46-acre site at Groundwell and transforming the landmark building into its UK headquarters, with bespoke warehousing, state-of-the-art offices and an international training centre.
Parts of the 250,000 sq ft building, which had stood empty since Motorola ceased production in 2006, have been demolished, including three of its four warehouses, and Vygon has built a new 60,000 sq ft warehouse which at 12.5m high is more suited to its needs.
It has also completely refurbished the existing office pod and converted some rooms into training suites which will be used by Vygon staff from across the world – saving on the cost of hiring external training facilities.
The massive operation to find a suitable site for Vygon to expand its UK operations started three years ago and has been managed by Bristol firm Adapt Properties.Healthcare and medical device supplier Vygon has completed its move to Swindon’s iconic former Motorola factory, with the French-owned saying it will grow and develop in its new base.
Vygon, which celebrates its 50th anniversary next year, spent £15m buying the 46-acre site at Groundwell and transforming the landmark building into its UK headquarters, with bespoke warehousing, state-of-the-art offices and an international training centre.
Parts of the 250,000 sq ft building, which had stood empty since Motorola ceased production in 2006, have been demolished, including three of its four warehouses, and Vygon has built a new 60,000 sq ft warehouse which at 12.5m high is more suited to its needs.
It has also completely refurbished the existing office pod and converted some rooms into training suites which will be used by Vygon staff from across the world – saving on the cost of hiring external training facilities.
The massive operation to find a suitable site for Vygon to expand its UK operations started three years ago and has been managed by Bristol firm Adapt Properties.
Healthcare and medical device supplier Vygon had moved to Swindon’s iconic former Motorola factory, with the French-owned saying it will grow and develop in its new base.
Vygon, which spent £15m buying the 46-acre site at Groundwell (2011) and transforming the landmark building into its UK headquarters, with bespoke warehousing, state-of-the-art offices and an international training centre.
Parts of the 250,000 sq ft building, which had stood empty since Motorola ceased production in 2006, have been demolished, including three of its four warehouses, and the famous tube, and Vygon has built a new 60,000 sq ft warehouse which at 12.5m high is more suited to its needs.
It has also completely refurbished the existing office pod and converted some rooms into training suites which will be used by Vygon staff from across the world – saving on the cost of hiring external training facilities.
The massive operation to find a suitable site for Vygon to expand its UK operations started three years ago (2008) and has been managed by Bristol firm Adapt Properties.
How ever Vygon stoped construction last year (2012) and now the site stands unused.
Ian Fleming's Goldfinger pub still stands open in business just down the road from the factory.
Key Facts:
Building size, 23,100 sq.m
Length, 300m
Architect, Shepherd Robson
Year of construction, 1998
Thanks for reading.
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