Work begins on international furniture manufacturer's HQ in Leamington

Work has begun on the construction of the new production building and headquarters for British furniture manufacturer Vitsœ on the site of the former Ford Foundry in Leamington.
Computer genrated image of how the Vitsoe HQ in Leamington will look.Computer genrated image of how the Vitsoe HQ in Leamington will look.
Computer genrated image of how the Vitsoe HQ in Leamington will look.

The internationally-known company announced plans to settle and invest in Warwickshire two years ago, choosing to relocate from London because of Leamington’s excellent road and rail connections, and the proximity to Daventry International Rail Freight Terminal, from which Vitsœ will ship to customers all over the world.

The majority of Vitsœ’s suppliers are based in the ‘Midlands Engine’ region, making it the ideal home for the manufacturer.

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Vitsœ was also drawn to the town’s distinguished architecture and the community’s rich industrial heritage.

Groundwork is now underway at the 3.3-acre site, which was the location of the

Ford Foundry until its closure in 2008 after decades as one of Leamington’s

industrial mainstays.

The new Vitsœ building has been designed by Vitsœ together with a world-class team including a landscape by the acclaimed designer Kim Wilkie that reflects the ridge-and-furrow fields found around Leamington.

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Vitsœ’s building will be the first in Europe with a structure made entirely of a new

beech laminate-veneer lumber (LVL).

The architectural historian, Nikolaus Pevsner, once remarked, “timber-framing plays a large part in late medieval building in Warwickshire.”

After dramatic advances in the way in which it can be engineered, timber is now reemerging as the construction material of tomorrow. Vitsœ’s new building will reintroduce timber-framing on a grand scale to Warwickshire.

Vitsœ is known for its distinctive approach to industrial sustainability.

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Its building will be both naturally ventilated and naturally lit during daylight hours via its sawtooth roof.

The site’s location near Leamington town centre, the station and National Cycle Network route 41 are important factors to allow employees to travel without reliance on cars.

Based in Britain since 1995, Vitsœ was established in Germany in 1959 to make the furniture of renowned German industrial designer Dieter Rams.

In the past 20 years the manufacturer has gone from strength to strength, with its elegant and discreet furniture being used and loved in homes across the world while also collected for its enduring design qualities by institutions such as the Victoria & Albert Museum and Tate Modern in London, and MoMA in New York.

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