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.

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

Topics
Joel Patel
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Joel Patel is a former contributor for The Manual. His work has also been featured on Autoweek, Digital Trends, Autoblog…
The new Mercedes-Benz CLE Coupe is here — and it’s stunning
Iconic and packed with new features, the 2024 CLE Coupe is an instant classic
2024 MB CLE Coupe

Sometimes less is more. In an automotive world full of fine-tuned, niche-market choices, you can get anything from a hyper-exotic Ferrari, to a truck that looks and drives like a car, to a car that looks and drives like a truck and back again. As the savvy premium carmaker they always have been, Mercedes-Benz has realized this and has decided to eliminate both the C- and E-Class Coupes and instead bring us the brand new and stunning 2024 CLE Coupe.

 
Mercedes-Benz says the CLE Coupe is "shaped by desire"
While some may fret that their beloved C-Class or E-Class Coupe will be no more, one look at the CLE Coupe, and those fears will abate rapidly. Designed with what Mercedes-Benz calls its Sensual Purity philosophy, the 2024 CLE elicits a visceral reaction from onlookers. Smooth yet powerful, the long-hoot/short-deck blueprint has worked for Mercedes-Benz, and plenty of other automakers, harking all the way back to the 300SL Gullwing of the '50s. The CLE's "shark nose" front end sports a 3-D radiator grill bookended by wraparound LED headlamps set high on the hood. Smooth yet muscular lines flow seamlessly to the sculpted, but not overdone rear end.

Read more
A new study highlights the impact switching to EVs could have on our health
Switching to EV cars can preserve lives, reduce asthma attacks, and save the economy billions of dollars
best states to own an electric vehicle charging modern car on the street which are

 

Change is hard. Even when it is a good thing, and everyone is on board, change is still difficult to accept and embrace. No one likes to be told that something they enjoy might be bad for them and life would be better without it. Whether it's smoking, drinking, or eating red meat, most people don't or aren't ready to hear the truth. In some cases, moderation is fine, of course, but in others, change is necessary. A new study from the American Lung Association adds a new puzzle piece to how we look at the future of transportation.
Study says switching to EVs could save more than 89,000 lives by 2050
A new study by the American Lung Association tells us many things we already knew but didn't really want to hear. Noxious gasses emitted from fossil fuel-burning engines cause a litany of health issues over time. Asthma, heart disease, and lung disease are all byproducts of toxic fumes, and although it seems obvious, more EVs and less gas-powered cars will benefit our own health and not just improve global warming.

Read more
The Chevy Silverado EV’s range will set a new bar for electric pickups
The Chevy Silverado can now drive up to 450 miles after a full charge
2024 Chevy Silverado EV WT trim on the road.

The Chevy Silverado EV will hit the road before the end of this year. It resembles the gas-powered Chevy Silverado, but it’s sleeker with a blank body panel and thin LED lights on the front. Even the front bumper and the C pillar have been completely redesigned to make it look more futuristic. Another cool thing about it is that the interior looks bigger and less cluttered compared to the gas-powered Chevy Silverado.

Of course, since the gas-powered Chevy Silverado is one of the best-selling trucks in the U.S., GM expects the Chevy Silverado EV to have the same impact when new gasoline vehicles are banned in the near future. GM has also proven that it can be successful in the EV segment with the Chevy Bolt — although it’s killing the popular and affordable EV model.

Read more