Not all industry is ugly. Sometimes factories marry design with functionality and actually enhance the locations in which they stand.
CMMS Software Insight has put together a list of ‘The Top 25 Most Beautiful Factories in the World’.
Of course, lists such as this are never definitive and tend to result in as many arguments as agreements, but the exercise is still worthwhile.
The buildings were judged on a number of criteria, including exterior design, interior functionality, environmental efficiency, and landscape layout.
According to CMMS Software Insight, the factories chosen:
- Contained some completely distinctive design feature
- Won an award or citation for aesthetics
- Clearly went above and beyond the pure utility required of a factory
The 25 most beautiful factories in the world
1) Van Nelle Factory, Rotterdam, Netherlands
2) Volkswagen’s Transparent Factory, Dresden, Germany (below)
3) Aerzen Green Building, Coatesville, PA, USA (below)
4) GreenHouse Facility, Holland, MI, USA (below)
5) Olisur Olive Oil Factory, Santiago, Chile (below)
The Full List
- Van Nelle Factory, Rotterdam, Netherlands
- Volkswagen’s Transparent Factory
- Aerzen Green Building, Coatesville, PA, USA
- GreenHouse Facility, Holland, MI, USA
- Olisur Olive Oil Factory, Santiago, Chile
- BMW Central Building, Leipzig, Germany
- McLaren Technology Centre, Woking, UK
- FRABA sp z.o.o., Slubice, Poland
- Chelyabinsk Pipe Rolling Factory, Russia
- Anchor Brewing, San Francisco, CA
- NPO Energomash Plant, Khimki, Russia
- Louisville Slugger Factory, Louisville, KY, USA
- Siemens, Amberg, Germany
- Anheuser-Busch, Newark, NJ, USA
- Guiness Brewery, Ireland
- Lockheed Martin Factory at United States Air Force Plant 4, Fort Worth, TX, USA
- Rioglass Solar Construction Plant, Lena, Spain
- Bang and Olufsen, Struer, Denmark
- Paykar Bonyan Panel Factory, Tehran, Iran
- Boeing Manufacturing Site, Everett, WA, USA
- Aston Martin, Gaydon, Warwickshire, UK
- Nestle Factory, Brazil
- Yenidze Cigarette Factory, Dresden, Germany
- Shell Factory, China
- Intel’s Fab32, Semiconductor Manufacturing Plant, Chandler, AZ, USA