The Ford Engineering Lab in Dearborn opened in 1924 and has been the birthplace of numerous advances, including the Model A, the flathead V8 engine, and the 1949 Ford, which is widely credited with turning around the company’s fortunes following World War II.
One of Ford’s oldest and most historically significant buildings, the Ford Engineering Lab, has housed advances in design and engineering since the company’s early years, and became a one-stop shop for automotive research and design when it opened its doors a century ago. Today, the building ushers in remarkable restorations and modernization as part of the company’s ongoing campus transformation efforts.
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The Dearborn Engineering Lab, as the building was originally known, opened in 1924.
Modeled after the company’s Twin Cities Assembly Plant, the intent of the Dearborn Engineering Laboratory, as it was originally known, was “to make the application of motive power to human needs more general, more effective, and more economical.” When it was completed, the building contained all the necessary tools and other resources to design and test an entire vehicle from start to finish.
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At the time of its construction, the Ford Engineering Lab included 65,000 square feet of glass windows to let natural lighting flow through the building.
The building was designed by noted Detroit-based architect Albert Kahn, who also designed several other Ford buildings, including the Rotunda and the Highland Park plant. At 1,200 feet long by 204 feet wide, it was one of the largest open office spaces of its time, so much so that the bathrooms were located in the basement in order to create more workspace. The large building, located along Oakwood Boulevard, was originally illuminated in part by the more than 65,000 square feet of glass windows embedded in the building’s arched ceilings, which allowed natural lighting to flow into the lab’s work area, while its hard rock maple flooring was sourced from the forests of northern Michigan.
Evolution of FEL
The project broke ground in the spring of 1923, with Ford employees beginning to occupy the building in late 1924. Already spanning the equivalent of two city blocks when it was constructed, a 156,000- square-foot addition was completed in 1954 as part of a multi-million-dollar expansion of Ford’s nearby
research and engineering campus. Another major renovation came in the late 1970s. The building’s name has also been a source of change. The Ford Engineering Lab (FEL) was renamed the Engine and Electrical Engineering (EEE or “Triple E”) building to better align with its new focus in the 1950s. Then in the late 1990s, as the building also became home to the offices for Powertrain Operations, it became the Powertrain Operations Engine Engineering (POEE).
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The building has been expanded and renamed multiple times in the past century, but it has always been instrumental to Ford design and engineering.
Massive stone columns mark the entrance of the FEL. The exterior is made of Bedford limestone from Indiana, while the roof is topped with distinctive red clay shingles. Henry Ford dedicated space on the front of the building to commemorate some of the most notable scientists and inventors of the time, including Thomas Edison, Charles Darwin, and Alexander Graham Bell. Reportedly, by honoring these figures for their contributions to the advancement of the arts and sciences, Henry Ford meant to inspire the engineers and designers who worked there. A series of sculpted figurines representing agriculture, manufacture, and transportation were added to the corners and ends of the FEL.
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The FEL served as the backdrop for one of the most well-known pictures in Ford Motor Company history: this picture from 1927 of Henry and Edsel Ford commemorating the 15 millionth Model T produced.
Henry Ford was known to have kept office space at several Ford buildings, but it has been said that his famed office at the FEL was his favorite. In its early years, the building even earned the name “Henry Ford’s Toy Box” for the countless artifacts he was stashing in a dedicated space, including machinery, furnishings, and other pieces of Americana that would later serve as the backbone of what is today known as The Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation.
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Henry Ford preferred to work from his office space at FEL rather than other buildings.
The building is also known for other quirks, such as having a dance hall where Ford executives were encouraged to learn square dancing. The building’s large, walk-in safe held the company’s payroll in the early years, and a pillar within still shows markings denoting the heights of various members of Ford’s management team of 1938 – the same as he had done for his growing grandchildren. Ford’s preserved office, located in what’s called “Mahogany Row,” includes a fireplace and original furniture.
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The frame of a Lincoln car is being prepared for clay modeling in this 1946 photo.
Some 1,800 Ford engineers, technicians, administrators, and designers called the building home at its peak, but declining employee head counts led to the building’s closure in 2007. It was reopened in 2015, again as the Ford Engineering Lab, as engineers from other buildings were relocated there. The building is also home to the Ford Motor Company archives collection.
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Rows and rows of desks from Ford’s Body Engineering department are seen in this 1946 photo.
A century of innovation at the Ford Engineering Lab gave us the 1928 Model A, the flathead V8 engine block, the Lincoln Continental, the 1949 Ford, and the Escape Hybrid.
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A Ford engineer performs a spin test in this 1953 photo.
Ford team members willcelebrate the legacy of the Ford Engineering Lab when it hosts the next employee Global Town Hall on Monday, Sept. 16, during its 100th anniversary. To watch the celebration online, tune in here.
