Airbus Engine Factory
Hamburg, Germany
As a model for sustainable airplane engine factories of the future, this project forms part of a broad strategy to rapidly decarbonize the aviation industry.
Work completed while at The Living
Size: 100,000 ft²
Client: Airbus
Sustainability: DGNB Gold
Scope: Architecture, Generative Design
Team: David Benjamin, Lindsey Wikstrom, John Locke, Ray Wang, Lorenzo Villaggi, Damon Lau
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The design expands beyond traditional architectural boundaries, advancing both sustainable construction and manufacturing practices for the Hamburg campus. Addressing the building’s expansive impact required both large and small strategies for embodied and operational carbon. Proven low-carbon materials like mass timber were paired with next-generation innovations such as CO₂-sequestering concrete and bio-based cement. This approach helped initiate Europe’s first CarbonCure injected-CO₂ concrete plant. Through iterative lifecycle analysis and targeted selection of durable, reusable materials, the design reduced carbon emissions by 48 percent per square meter compared to a typical factory.
The design expands beyond traditional architectural boundaries, advancing both sustainable construction and manufacturing practices for the Hamburg campus. Addressing the building’s expansive impact required both large and small strategies for embodied and operational carbon. Proven low-carbon materials like mass timber were paired with next-generation innovations such as CO₂-sequestering concrete and bio-based cement. This approach helped initiate Europe’s first CarbonCure injected-CO₂ concrete plant. Through iterative lifecycle analysis and targeted selection of durable, reusable materials, the design reduced carbon emissions by 48 percent per square meter compared to a typical factory.
Adaptability was a central principle. The building is composed of swappable and upgradeable modules and systems, designed to accommodate today’s known production equipment while remaining flexible for the unknown demands of the next twenty to fifty years. With numerous stakeholders, the client needed a nuanced understanding of performance-to-cost trade-offs. Using a data-driven, generative design process, the team defined high-level goals and constraints, then employed computational tools to explore a wide range of formal and programmatic possibilities. This combination of human creativity and computational optimization allowed the team to manage complexity, incorporate diverse priorities, and produce results that are both novel and high-performing.
Adaptability was a central principle. The building is composed of swappable and upgradeable modules and systems, designed to accommodate today’s known production equipment while remaining flexible for the unknown demands of the next twenty to fifty years. With numerous stakeholders, the client needed a nuanced understanding of performance-to-cost trade-offs. Using a data-driven, generative design process, the team defined high-level goals and constraints, then employed computational tools to explore a wide range of formal and programmatic possibilities. This combination of human creativity and computational optimization allowed the team to manage complexity, incorporate diverse priorities, and produce results that are both novel and high-performing.
Departing from the standard box, the design draws new geometric possibilities from its triangular site, creating a factory imbued with the spatial and material qualities of a cultural building. The architecture minimizes the need for artificial lighting, maximizes natural ventilation, and anticipates the ways the building can evolve over time. Aviation currently accounts for over two percent of global carbon emissions, and this project embodies the sector’s growing recognition that its future depends on rapid systemic change. By advancing carbon reduction goals on production campuses and strengthening circular economies, the factory stands at the forefront of a new industrial paradigm. Not only is the design approach futuristic, but the design process is too. It is more inclusive, inviting discussion among those who build, operate, and sustain the factory both within and beyond its walls.
Departing from the standard box, the design draws new geometric possibilities from its triangular site, creating a factory imbued with the spatial and material qualities of a cultural building. The architecture minimizes the need for artificial lighting, maximizes natural ventilation, and anticipates the ways the building can evolve over time. Aviation currently accounts for over two percent of global carbon emissions, and this project embodies the sector’s growing recognition that its future depends on rapid systemic change. By advancing carbon reduction goals on production campuses and strengthening circular economies, the factory stands at the forefront of a new industrial paradigm. Not only is the design approach futuristic, but the design process is too. It is more inclusive, inviting discussion among those who build, operate, and sustain the factory both within and beyond its walls.
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Reach out to start a conversation about your project and how we can bring it to life with thoughtful, sustainable design hello@mattaforma.com