20 Years, 20 Secrets: The award-winning McLaren Technology Centre turns 20

1. The lake which surrounds the building contains over 30 million litres of water. The water is
pumped through heat exchangers which in turn help to cool the buildings and dissipate
the heat produced by the wind tunnel.
2. During the design process, the dimensions of the building were adapted to ensure no tiles
needed to be cut to fit into the building’s design measurements. In the production centre,
test equipment was also designed so that no tiles would be cut and they would perfectly fit
around the equipment.
3. The design of the supporting blades for the building’s facade took inspiration from the
suspension wishbones of a Formula 1 car.
4. The atmospheric pressure in the McLaren restaurant is slightly lowered and controlled in
order to contain the smell of food.
5. Over 100,000 trees and shrubs have been planted on the 50-hectre site since McLaren took
ownership of the land. There are over 14,000 individual plants in each of the company’s
five car parks.
6. The land on which the campus was built was originally home to an ostrich farm and model
railway.
7. More than 300,000 cubic meters of earth was removed when building MTC. All of the soil
was redistributed around the site and relandscaped.
8. If viewed from above, the Technology Centre and lake form a perfect circle.
9. The futuristic-looking building has been used as a set for multiple award-winning film and
TV productions, including Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw
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10. There is approximately 43,000 square meters of glass used in the building.
11. It took 2 million hours of labour to build the McLaren Technology Centre.
12. The Rivers and Lakes provide habitat for 11 species of dragonfly and damselfly, which is
unique for such a built-up area.
13. The main frame of the building is big enough to house nine Boeing 747 aircrafts nose to
tail.
14. The building is surrounded by a slurry wall one metre thick and 27 metres deep. To dig
this out a Backhoe Excavator, one of only three in the world, had to be brought over from
America. It arrived as parts that filled nine articulated lorries and took a week to assemble.
15. On a sunny day in July or August, if you walk the boundary path around McLaren Park you
can expect to see approximately 350 individual butterflies. More than 25 difference species
are seen on McLaren Park every year.
16. The design brief for the building was to make it feel 90% Nasa, 10% Disney.
17. 100 tonnes of carbon are captured and stored each year by vegetation at the MTC campus.
18. The lake now homes “McLaren bred” carp which are larger in size than the original stock
that were first introduced.
19. The glass lifts on the company’s façade took inspiration from a piston. Built from a onepiece hydraulic ram, they were designed to avoid the need for a telescopic ram which
would create unsightly grease along its length.
20. Renowned architect Sir Norman Foster of Foster and Partners was responsible for the
building’s design. He was also behind Wembley Stadium, the famous Gherkin in London,
Hong Kong airport and the Century Tower in Tokyo.