Tederic GIGA Factory

©Shan-jian Images

Tederic GIGA Factory——Redefining Industrial Architecture: Spaces Beyond Production

• Architects

Can the factories of the future break away from monotony and become spaces of sustainability, openness, and social value?

photo_credit ©Shan-jian Images — ©Shan-jian Images

In the public imagination, factories are tied to enclosing walls, vast sheds, and endless assembly lines—spaces long viewed as closed, monotonous, and efficiency-driven. In China, they were once seen as unsightly and low-grade, reinforcing negative stereotypes. Today, however, factories are no longer mere production containers; they increasingly embody questions of energy transition, ecological responsibility, and labor conditions.

As Henri Lefebvre argued in The Production of Space (1974), space is not neutral but produced through social relations. Industrial architecture likewise not only supports production processes but also mirrors the logic of capital and energy regimes. Tederic GIGA Factory, designed by milanesi|paiusco, seeks to reframe how we think about the past, present, and future of industrial architecture.

The Past and Turning Point in Industrial Architecture

In 1913, Henry Ford introduced the assembly line and standardized production at the Highland Park Factory in Detroit, establishing a paradigm for modern industrial production. This spatial logic dramatically increased efficiency, but it also subjected workers to a rigid disciplinary system—shaped by the assembly line, labor gradually lost its autonomy. Fordist factories were celebrated as "cathedrals of production," yet they also became symbols of the "alienation of labor."

In the post-industrial stage, China has begun to face the dual pressures of environmental crises and social demands. The spatial logic of pursuing efficiency and growth at the expense of workers' welfare and the environment is being increasingly questioned and revised, while a greener, more human-centered, and sustainable industrial transformation is gradually emerging as the new direction.

Sustainability andthe Net-Zero Goal

With carbon neutrality now became a global consensus, industrial buildings—characterized by high energy consumption and high emissions—have become critical sites for energy transition and decarbonization.

By integrating photovoltaic systems, renewable energy, and recycling strategies, factories are no longer just energy consumers but are evolving into energy nodes with both productive and regulatory capacities.

Tederic GIGA Factory, located in the Economic Development Zone of Tongxiang, Jiaxing, Zhejiang Province, covering a site area of approximately 164,666 square meters and a gross floor area of around 244,581 square meters. It comprises machining workshops, injection molding and die-casting assembly halls, an office complex, and a testing lab. Designed by milanesi|paiusco, the project seeks to create an innovative green industrial park combining efficient production with sustainable development. After approximately 1 year and 9 months of construction, this "zero-carbon" factory was completed and inaugurated in July 2024.

photo_credit milanesi | paiusco — milanesi | paiusco

At the core of its green energy system is an 11.69 MW rooftop photovoltaic array, producing an annual average of 11.4223 million kWh—equivalent to the yearly consumption of 4,000 households.

This system allows the factory to achieve nearly 100% energy self-sufficiency, fully covering operational demand while channeling 37% of surplus electricity back into the grid, contributing to regional renewable supply and advancing the zero-carbon agenda.

In addition, a rainwater collection and reuse system supports water recycling across the campus. The surrounding area integrates small-scale agricultural plots that supply vegetables for the canteen, add to the site's greenery, and create opportunities for workers' leisure.

Fusion of Function and Aesthetics

For a long period, the appearance of industrial buildings was often considered secondary, presenting a closed, heavy, and uninspired aesthetic. In the early 20th century, the Fagus Factory in Alfeld, Germany, pioneered the use of steel structures and glass curtain walls, breaking with traditional heavy forms and becoming a milestone in modernist industrial design—laying the groundwork for the integration of function and aesthetics.

In the contemporary era, industrial architecture has taken on a meaning beyond pure production, where design and aesthetics are no longer secondary but serve as vital means of fulfilling functions and conveying values.

Tederic GIGA Factory responds to this trajectory in its own way—emphasizing functionality and adaptability while articulating a restrained, rational industrial aesthetic through its façade, top surface, lighting, and material strategy.

The factory's considerable height and mass, required by production demands, are balanced through a design strategy that combines a glazed ground floor with more enclosed upper levels, together with steel-framed canopies and articulated façade layers. These elements ensure the functionality of unloading areas while softening the building's scale, improving spatial transparency, and breaking away from the rigid monotony of a "black box."

The roof and façades, through the arrangement of solar-panel steel canopies and staggered building volumes, enrich the architectural layering, further softening the rigidity of the large mass and bringing greater rhythm and depth to the overall composition.

The façade departs from traditional closed models, combining glass curtain walls and corrugated panels to maximize daylight penetration, enhance openness, and reduce lighting energy use. The ground-floor façade employs glass or corrugated steel to visually shorten the building by 3–4 meters, effectively mitigating the oppressive scale of its mass and producing a lighter appearance.

Non-display areas use stainless-steel corrugated panels instead of glass, maintaining reflective qualities close to glass, ensuring overall visual consistency, while significantly reducing costs.

Factories and Workers: Human-Centered Care Space

Factories are not merely machines of efficiency; they are the spaces where thousands of workers spend their daily labor and lives. Traditional factories embodied not only a mode of production but also a strict spatial order: enclosed, dim, and isolated from the environment, stripping workers of agency and comfort.

In contrast, contemporary industrial architecture increasingly seeks to combine efficiency with well-being—introducing daylight, greenery, and landscape elements to create open and pleasant work environments. The layout of Tederic GIGA Factory exemplifies this shift.

Efficient production flowlines

The factory is organized around two core workshops. To the south, machining and heat treatment; to the north, assembly lines arranged west-to-east by scale (large, medium, small). A streamlined one-way system integrates logistics, production, and outbound flows, minimizing backtracking and intersections, improving coordination, and ensuring efficient operation.

Ground-floor glazing

Three-meter-high glass panels connect interiors with exterior views, breaking the "black-box" typology of traditional workshops and allowing workers visual access to sky and greenery, alleviating the psychological burden of confinement.

Integrated office and leisure zones

A central atrium creates a rooftop terrace, maximizing daylight and greenery. This green respite fosters social interaction and provides a gradient transition between administrative and production spaces.

Such a balance of efficiency and care both improves workers' daily experience and indirectly enhances productivity and creativity. It underscores that "soft values" in industrial architecture are not peripheral but vital drivers of extended productivity and innovation.

Future Perspectives of Industrial Architecture

Tederic GIGA Factory demonstrates that "better" does not necessarily mean "more expensive." Its overall construction cost is broadly comparable to that of conventional factories, with certain aspects proving even more economical. Through rational planning and material choices, the design achieves higher energy efficiency, more comfortable spatial experience, and improved environmental quality.

The factory of the future will no longer be a concealed device on the urban periphery but a critical node in social and ecological systems. Industrial architecture should respond to specific contexts and production logics, rather than seek universal formulas. It will simultaneously serve as a site of production, an energy hub, an ecological laboratory, and a cultural platform—reshaping the relationship between cities, societies, and industry.