Skip to main content

BMW’s new design facility in Santa Monica will mean great things for you, too

After 50 years in Thousand Oaks, BMW’s Designworks has moved to Santa Monica

You don’t have to be an artist to notice that automotive design has changed dramatically over the past few decades. While every decade sees automobile designers take inspiration from outside the automotive industry, new-age vehicles are blazing their own paths for automotive designs. In order to keep up with the ever-changing landscape of automotive design, BMW recently moved its innovative Designworks division to Santa Monica, California.

At first glance, the move might be confusing. For the past 50 years, Designworks has been located in Thousand Oaks and has worked out of a 70,000 square-foot facility. The new studio in Santa Monica has just 16,000 square feet of space. While the change in location may seem like a business deal gone bad, the change will help Designworks really flex its muscles as an innovative design studio. That should mean more stirring designs for consumers.

Related Videos

While the new studio in Santa Monica only has 16,000 square feet of usable space, it’s still the largest of BMW’s other Designworks facilities in Shangai and Munich. Speaking of those other locations, the employees in the new studio will still work closely together to create cohesive designs. Designworks’ new studio is being used to help the organization progress into the digital world.

As BMW notes, having a facility in Santa Monica puts the automaker close to other design, media, and tech companies. The automaker is going so far as saying the new studio is in the heart of “Silicon Beach.” Being close to other high-tech companies will allow Designworks to expand its clientele and partnerships from industries outside automobiles, including interior spaces, charging infrastructure, and consumer electronics. The movie industry is next door, too, as are talented composers like Hans Zimmer, who has worked with BMW in the past for EV sounds.

BMW is really doubling down on the digital aspect of the new studio. While automakers continue to sculpt vehicle designs out of clay and utilize milling machines, the new studio will only use digital tools. “Our new studio allows us to fully exploit the freedoms digitalization gives us,” said Holger Hampf, Head of Designworks. Moving to using digital tools to design things should allow the studio in Santa Monica to work more closely with the facilities in Munich and Shanghai.

If you’re wondering what you can expect to see from Designworks, look at the BMW M Hybrid V8 race car that made its debut at the 24 Hours of Daytona. That vehicle was penned by the talented folks at Designworks, as was the M Vision NEXT Concept from 2019. The design studio is also credited with penning most of BMW’s SUVs and the automaker’s electric vehicles under the i Brand. Outside of automobile design, Designworks is looking into new production methods and environmentally friendly materials like non-animal textiles and bacteria-based, plastic-free materials. Additionally, Designworks made a special smartphone application for the reveal of the BMW i Vision Dee at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show.

We’re excited to see what BMW’s Designworks has in store for the future. With BMW set to focus more on electric vehicles, we’re sure the design studio will come out with some radically designed electric concepts shortly.

Editors' Recommendations

The Rolls-Royce Phantom Syntopia brings haute fashion to cars
Rolls claims that the one-off is the most complex Phantom ever made
Rolls-Royce Phantom Syntopia side profile in a studio with purple swirling lines in the back.

Amid the electric vehicle revolution and the introduction of more semi-autonomous technology, automakers are eager to change their bios from traditional automakers to tech companies. Rolls-Royce, well, Rolls-Royce is different. While the iconic British marque has introduced its first EV with the Spectre, Rolls-Royce really does expand its reach beyond the world of cars as a luxury marque. Case in point, the latest vehicle from Rolls-Royce is the Phantom Syntopia. It was made in collaboration with Dutch fashion designer Iris van Herpen and blends the worlds of high fashion and cars.
You may not think that fashion and cars belong together, but the Syntopia certainly makes a case for more collaboration across the two industries. The Syntopia is very purple and is inspired by the concept of “weaving water.” The automaker, which has created some stunning vehicles over its extensive history, calls the Syntopia a “bespoke masterpiece.” Heavy words from a brand that’s known for going above and beyond with some of the most bespoke vehicles on sale. But we believe the company certainly went to great lengths to make the Syntopia, seeing as how it took Rolls-Royce four years to perfect.

Previous

Read more
The 8 fastest cars in the world right now
Find out who tops the list of fastest cars
Bugatti Chiron Super Sport 300+ Coupe

Despite the push to make more fuel-efficient vehicles with smaller engines, automakers are using high-powered supercars to attempt to set new top speed records. Automakers have made large strides in aerodynamics and have found a way around emissions by keeping production of record-setting vehicles incredibly limited. Like lap records, top-speed runs are purely for bragging rights. There’s no incentive to having one of the fastest cars in the world beyond giving automakers the ability to say that they have one of the fastest cars in the world. It really is that simple.
World's fastest cars

Bugatti Chiron Super Sport 300+: 304 mph
Hennessey Venom F5: 301 mph*
SSC Tuatara: 295 mph
Koenigsegg Agera RS: 278 mph
Hennessey Venom GT: 270 mph
Bugatti Veyron Super Sport: 268 mph
SSC Ultimate Aero TT: 265 mph 
McLaren Speedtail: 250 mph*

Read more
BMW’s latest all-electric concept is a beach-ready scooter with a surfboard
The battery-powered scooter is the resulting lovechild from BMW Motorrad and Vagabund Moto
BMW CE 04 Vagabund Moto Concept parked in the middle of a studio with a man looking at the scooter.

Based on the photos that BMW Motorrad, BMW's motorcycle arm, released of the BMW CE 04 Vagabund Moto Concept, one would assume that it’s an art piece that’s meant to sit front and center in a Los Angeles apartment. But that’s not the case. The CE 04 is the latest concept from the two companies and is an all-electric scooter with an eye on urban mobility, but somehow, it has a rack to carry a matching surfboard. Yeah, we’re a little confused by the concept, but in a good way.

If you’re familiar with the Austrian-based Vagabund, you’re probably not surprised by the CE 04 Concept. Vagabund Moto is a design studio that’s created some pretty radical car and motorcycle concepts, many of which utilize BMW’s bikes as the base. The team at Vagabund have a history of making some incredible concepts, so the CE 04 Concept fits right in with their theme of urban machines with an eye-catching design. 

Read more