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The McLaren Group is a collection of high-tech companies involved in the design and development of Formula One cars, high-performance road cars, electronic systems and composite materials in the UK.
In creating the McLaren Technology Centre, Foster + Partners responded to a challenging brief to create a new headquarters for the majority of the McLaren Group’s employees, previously scattered across 18 locations in and around the Woking area in the UK.
As part of the building specifications for the project Foster + Partners selected Rolflex Folding doors. Both the access ways for cars and the all-glass doors in the curtain walls are Roflex Folding Compact doors. All the doors on the project were custom made ensuring that they would fit seamlessy into the overall design of the building.
The production centre which opened in 2011 also has Rolflex Folding Compact doors on the outside. At the end of the production line the cars pass through three glass boxes on their way to the car wash. Each glass box is opened and closed with a powder coated Full Light Folding Compact door.
Commenting on the project Joost Megens MD of Rolflex said: "We are very proud to have been chosen by one of the worlds leading architects for both phases of this prestigious project. Our Compact Folding Doors' unique space saving features complimented the architects design and detailing of the external and internal cladding of the buildings"
Commenting on Foster + Partners role Lord Foster added: "McLaren came to us with a number of preconceptions – not so much about what the building should look like, but more about what the spirit of the building should be, its aspirations and its social generators.” The building’s 57,000 sq m of office space is home to the majority of the McLaren group’s 900 employees, in an area large enough to hold nine Boeing 747 jumbo jets.