General Motors Technical Center

General Motors Technical Center
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. Historic district
Location	Bounded by 12 Mile, Mound and Chicago Rds, and Van Dyke Ave., Warren, Michigan
Area	600 acres (240 ha)
Built	1949
Architect	Saarinen, Eero; Church, Thomas Dolliver
Architectural style	International Style
NRHP reference No.	00000224
Added to NRHP	March 27, 2000

The GM Technical Center is a General Motors facility in Warren, Michigan. The campus is home to 16,000 GM engineers, designers, and technicians and has been the center of the company's engineering effort since its inauguration in 1956.

The "Tech Center" was designed by architect Eero Saarinen, with construction beginning in 1949. The campus was completed in 1955 and ceremonially opened by President Dwight D. Eisenhower on May 16, 1956. The facility cost the company approximately US$100,000,000 at the time. The American Institute of Architects honored it in 1986 as the most outstanding architectural project of its era.

The Tech Center includes 330 acres (1.3 km²) with 11 miles (18 km) of roads and 1.1 miles (1.8 km) of tunnels. It includes 25 main buildings and numerous additional structures including a water tower and 22-acre (89,000 m²) lake.

People affiliated with the site include Larry Burns, vice president of R&D and strategic planning, and Alan Taub, executive director of R&D.

Main areas

• Research & Development ( 42.5152°N 83.0432°W / 42.5152; -83.0432 ("GM Research And Development") )
  • The Metallurgy Building
  • The Administration Building and exhibition hall
• Design Center ( 42.5095°N 83.0419°W / 42.5095; -83.0419 ("GM Design Center") )
• The Lake
• Engineering Buildings
• The Central Cafeteria ( 42.5120°N 83.0389°W / 42.5120; -83.0389 ("GM Central Cafeteria") )
• Manufacturing Centers
  • Manufacturing A Building
  • Manufacturing B Building

Further reading

• Fisher, Dale (1994). Detroit: Visions of the Eagle. Grass Lake, MI: Eyry of the Eagle Publishing. ISBN 0-9615623-3-1.
• "GM Technical Center 40th Anniversary". GM.com. Archived from the original on March 3, 2007. Retrieved October 3, 2006.
• Hill, Eric J. and John Gallagher (2002). AIA Detroit: The American Institute of Architects Guide to Detroit Architecture. Wayne State University Press. ISBN 0-8143-3120-3.