Dunton Technical Centre

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Dunton Technical Centre
Ford Dunton
Ford's Dunton Technical Centre - geograph.org.uk - 218069.jpg
View from the front
Dunton Technical Centre is located in EssexDunton Technical Centre
Location within Essex
Former names Ford Research & Engineering Centre
General information
Type Automobile Research Centre
Address Dunton, Laindon, Essex, SS15 6EE
Coordinates 51.581�N 0.405�ECoordinates: 51.581�N 0.405�E
Elevation 45 m (148 ft)
Current tenants Ford design team
Completed 1 January 1967
Inaugurated 12 October 1967[1]
Cost �10.5 million.[1]
Client Ford of Britain
Landlord Ford of Europe
Dimensions
Other dimensions 268 acres (108.4 ha)
Technical details
Floor count 4
Design and construction
Services engineer G.N. Haden & Sons
Main contractor George Wimpey
The Dunton Campus (informally Ford Dunton or Dunton) is a major automotive research
and development facility located in Dunton Wayletts, Laindon, Essex, United Kingdom
owned and operated by Ford Motor Company. It was the largest automotive technical
centre in the United Kingdom and takes its name from the nearby Dunton Wayletts.[1]
Ford Dunton houses the main design team of Ford of Europe alongside its Merkenich
Technical Centre in Cologne, Germany. With the closure of Ford's Warley site
(located in Brentwood, Essex) in September 2019, the staff from the UK division of
Ford Motor Credit Company and Ford's UK Sales and Marketing departments, have moved
to the Dunton site. As of November 2019, Dunton had around 4000 staff working at
the site.

Contents
1 Location
2 History
2.1 Construction
2.2 1967 to 2000
2.3 2000 to present
3 Activities
4 Notable staff
5 See also
6 References
7 External links
7.1 Video clips
7.2 News items
Location

The entrance to Ford Dunton.

Ford Dunton is situated at the junction of West Mayne (B148) and the A127 Southend
Arterial Road, in Dunton Wayletts in the district of Basildon. An electricity pylon
line straddles the site. In front of the building, to the north, is a vehicle test
track. To the south is the Southfields Business Park. The site lies in the
religious parish of Laindon with Dunton, formerly in Dunton and Bulphan before
1976. Dunton is a small hamlet to the west, with a former church near Dunton Hall.
There is a Ford dealership on the B148 on the north-west corner of the site.

In order to promote health and well-being at the site, there are walking routes and
outdoor natural areas preserved on the site. There is a picnic area and a pond
surrounded by a copse of mixed deciduous trees. The pond is home to many large fish
and you can see the protected snail species Helix pomatia.

History
Construction
Ford Dunton was constructed by George Wimpey for a contracted price of �6.5
million. The total cost of the centre was around �10 million. The centre originally
had 45,000 sq ft (4,200 m2) of space for design work, making it the largest
engineering research centre in Europe. Another development site at Aveley had been
opened in 1956 which made prototype cars and spare parts, and closed in 2004.[2]
Ford's earlier UK design site was at Dagenham (5 start building) and it previously
had seven engineering sites around the UK, with five in Essex; these all moved to
Dunton.

Ford Dunton was opened by Harold Wilson, then the British Prime Minister, on 12
October 1967.[3]

1967 to 2000
At the time of its opening, Dunton was assigned responsibility within Ford of
Europe for vehicle design, interior styling, chassis and body interior engineering,
engine calibration and product planning. Ford's Merkenich Centre in Cologne,
Germany was given principal responsibility for body and electrical engineering,
base engine design, advanced engine development, exterior styling, homologation,
vehicle development (ride, handling, NVH) and transmission engineering. This was a
'systems' approach to the engineering process intended to eliminate the duplication
of engineering responsibility within Ford of Europe.

In the late 1960s Dunton worked on an experimental electric car, first shown on 7
June 1967, and called the Ford Comuta.[4]

On 10 May 1971 Peter Walker opened a �1 million engine emissions laboratory at

Dunton, the largest of its type in Europe. In November 1974 the world's first
automated (computerised) multiple engine (six) test bed was constructed at Dunton,
built in co-operation with the engineering department of Queen Mary, University of
London. In 1974 a Honeywell 6050 computer was installed at Dunton at a cost of
�820,000. The computer was linked to Merkenich and to the Ford test track at Lommel
in Belgium. From 1978 Dunton had access to a CDC Cyber 176 computer at the USA base
in Dearborn.

By 1984 staff at Dunton were conducting video-conferences with colleagues at

Merkenich, using the ECS-1 satellite, and enabled by British Telecom International.
In 1988 Dunton prepared the way for design of the Mondeo (codename CDW27) by
pioneering, in collaboration with Merkenich, the World Engineering Release System
(WERS). Dunton at this time was the most advanced automotive development centre in
Europe.

In 1995 Dunton, in collaboration with the University of Southampton, developed a

device which is capable of detecting different types of plastic (for recycling)
using the triboelectric effect, including polypropylene, polyethylene, nylon and
acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS).

On 16 December 1997 Alexander Trotman, Baron Trotman opened a �128 million

environmental engine testing facility at Dunton.[5]

2000 to present
In 2003 a Silicon Graphics International (SGI) Reality Centre was constructed at
Dunton, incorporating SGI Onyx 3000 visualisation supercomputers, using the
InfiniteReality3 graphics rendering system.

In March 2010 Ford announced plans to develop a new generation of environmentally

friendly engines and vehicle technologies at Dunton following an announcement by
the UK Government that it would underwrite �360 million of a �450 million loan to
Ford from the European Investment Bank.[6] In July 2010 the new coalition
government confirmed that it would honour the loan commitment, and the contract was
signed in a ceremony at Dunton attended by the business minister Mark Prisk on 12
July.[7]

In recent years Dunton has been responsible for the development of the ECOnetic
range of vehicles, and has contributed to development of the EcoBoost range of
engines.

Activities

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Dunton houses the main design team of Ford of Europe, alongside its Merkenich
Technical Centre in Cologne. Currently Dunton has responsibility for the design of
the Ford Fiesta, the Ford Ka, engines for Ford of Europe (powertrain), commercial
vehicles and the interior of Ford of Europe cars. It has facilities to
simultaneously test fifteen cars and around one hundred engines. Around 3,000
engineers currently work at Dunton.

Ford Dunton is also the home of Ford Team RS, and as part of the Special Vehicle
Engineering section of Ford created by Rod Mansfield, developed the XR family of
'hot hatch' vehicles with the Ford Fiesta RS Turbo, more recently becoming the RS
family of vehicles. Ford also notably worked in this area of design with Cosworth
of Northampton.

Notable staff
Eamonn Martin, 1993 London Marathon winner worked at Dunton
See also
Whitley plant � was previously owned by Ford, now Jaguar Land Rover.
National Engineering Laboratory
References
"Back to the future for Ford". The Engineer. 26 October 2007. Retrieved 7 June
2011.
Aveley site closes in 2004
"Ford Dunton turns 40". Daily Gazette. 13 October 2007. Retrieved 7 June 2011.
"Battery-car progress � at 8-mile an hour in 25 years". New Scientist. 9 December
1971. Retrieved 7 June 2011.
"Motorists face fines for dirty fumes". BBC News. 16 December 1997. Retrieved 7
June 2011.
"Jobs safeguarded at Ford in Essex". Essex County Standard. 18 March 2010.
Archived from the original on 3 October 2011. Retrieved 7 June 2011.
"Coalition to honour �360m loan to Ford Dunton". Basildon Recorder. 13 July 2010.
Retrieved 7 June 2011.
 Wikimedia Commons has media related to Dunton Technical Centre.
External links
History of the site at BBC Essex
WikiMapia
Video clips
Environmental Test Laboratory
University of Cambridge solar powered vehicle built by Cambridge University Eco
Racing
News items
Electric cars in December 2009
40th birthday in October 2007
Prince of Wales visits in July 2007