The new Jaguar Design Studio in Gaydon

The Jaguar brand has unveiled its new dedicated design studio in Gaydon, Warwickshire, UK, bringing the entire design team into one purpose-built creative space for the first time in the marque’s 84-year history.

Led by Jaguar Design Director, Julian Thomson, the new studio is one of the most advanced automotive design centers in the world, developed to enhance the creative design process through the use of advanced technologies. The ‘Heart Space’, a collaborative hub at the center of the new Jaguar Design Studio, will bring together the diverse and creative 280-member team as it designs future generations of Jaguar models. Surrounding the Heart Space are unique working environments for the Interior, Exterior and Color and Materials teams, plus Design Visualization and Design Technical disciplines.

Jaguar Design is made up of designers from across the globe and from a range of industry backgrounds, including fashion, watch-making, sports and gaming. Being drawn from such different spheres of design helps the team deliver its interpretation of Britishness using contemporary materials and processes. The floor area of the new Jaguar Design Studio measures over 39,000 sq ft (12,000 sqm) – double that of the total previous studio spaces based in Whitley.

The main studios are named Studio 3 and Studio 4, taking inspiration from the numbers of the Le Mans-winning Jaguar D-types of 1957 and 1956 respectively, as well as paying homage to studios 1 and 2 at Whitley, which was the home of Jaguar Design from 1985. The considered naming approach is continued in the meeting rooms, with half named after iconic Jaguar models and the other half taking their names from important people in Jaguar history, including founder Sir William Lyons, designer Geoff Lawson and the actor Steve McQueen.

Studios 3 and 4 house a total of ten clay modelling plates, each measuring 65.6-ft (20-meters) long and capable of accommodating two clays, with a load capacity of 4.5-tons. For the first time, designers can now place interior and exterior models next to one another to improve synergy and collaboration between the two disciplines.

The plates also feature floor-integrated lifts for the clay models. These provide continuous height adjustment, enabling the most ergonomic working positions for the Jaguar modelers.

The studios are fully temperature controlled to ensure clay remains in the ideal state to be worked by the 46-member team of sculptors, while lighting is provided at exactly the right brightness and color temperature for optimal vision.

Studio 4 faces north to ensure the purest light flowing in from the outdoor viewing area through huge glass doors. Models can easily be taken outside to be viewed in natural light and from a range of distances and angles. In total, the new Jaguar Design Studio has nearly 3,000-sq ft (906 sqm) of windows, including three full-length skylights which flood the studio with natural light. The deliberately light and warm nature of the studio is completed by the extensive use of structural wooden beams.

Viewing models from various heights is as crucial as lighting, with the plan view of Jaguar models incredibly important to designers, from the early sketching stages through to model-making. Now, for the first time, designers will be able to scrutinize the models from alternative heights from the Mezzanine, View Room and The Steps – an amphitheater-style seating area.

In addition, Virtual Reality (VR) plays an increasingly important role in Jaguar Design with digitalization teams appearing at every stage of the process from sketching through to launch animations. The new Jaguar Design Studio will place a greater importance on advanced material technologies, too. The Color and Materials team have more space and technology to investigate and test new and sustainable resources that continue to demonstrate the heights of luxury and tactility for the next generation of vehicles, while meeting the demanding quality standards of the Jaguar brand.

The Color and Materials team work across both the exterior and interior, playing a vital role in creating each vehicle, from devising new paint colors, to conceptualizing the smallest beautiful interior details – the Jaguar print in an E-PACE center console, for example.

Beautiful design has always been at the heart of the Jaguar brand; exciting proportions, elegant form and innovative luxury. Recent World Car Design of the Year awards for the Jaguar F-TYPE, F-PACE and I-PACE are testament to the Jaguar Design team’s successful approach.