Motorola Blunsdon, Jan '13 Pic heavy

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Derelictspaces

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A freind and I recently did the old Motorola factory in Blunsdon, Swindon, and rather enjoyed it.

I've jacked some history from Swindon web...Motorola Building

Swindon's striking piece of industrial achitecture - and James Bond film location

Opened by the Queen in 1998:
the Motorola building
One of Swindon's most recent pieces of major industrial achitecture is the striking and futuristic Motorola Building at Groundwell.
Opened by Her Majesty the Queen in November 1998, the building was designed as a major manufacturing facility for the companies GSM radio transmission equipment and cost an estimated £40 million to construct.
It was completed in just 52 weeks.
The aluminium and glass clad complex covers an area equal to three football pitches end to end and accommodated 1300 staff (before recent redundancies in 2001) in 28,000 sq.m of manufacturing space and 4500 sq.m of offices.
The high-tech exposed steelwork and roof-level services tube at 5.5m diameter is big enough to drive a car through, and proved irrestible to the producers of the Bond film 'The World Is Not Enough', starring Pierce Brosnan, who filmed at the location in 1999 using the factory as a double for a Turkey oil refinery (see link below).
The Motorola building won the award for best industrial building in the 1999 Structural Steel Design Awards and was highly commended in the British Construction Industry Awards.
Manufacturing of mobile phones ceased at the site in 2001, and the building is currently the European headquarters for Motorola's Home & Networks Mobility.
In 2009, Motorola chose the factory to install the first test-bed in the UK for the new 4G mobile broadband system, which is currently undergoing high-profile trials.

Key Facts:

Building size, 23,100 sq.m
Length, 300m
Architect, Shepherd Robson
Year of construction, 1998


On with the photograhs...


Main road in by kirkland301, on Flickr


The lorry bay by kirkland301, on Flickr


Server room by kirkland301, on Flickr


Untitled by kirkland301, on Flickr


Untitled by kirkland301, on Flickr


Untitled by kirkland301, on Flickr


Untitled by kirkland301, on Flickr


Untitled by kirkland301, on Flickr


Untitled by kirkland301, on Flickr


Untitled by kirkland301, on Flickr


Untitled by kirkland301, on Flickr

This is my first post on here :) Thanks for looking and give me some feedback on what I can do differently next time;)
 
I like those last few shots, doesn't seem like it was used for it's purpose for long really?
 
Not really, it wasn't an ideal location I guess, its right up on the bypass of the A419/Thamesdown drive junction. The front half of the site is now used by Vygon (I think they made little blue pills :mrgreen:) Bu the back half is all but gone, the tunnels been chopped in half too, it was horrible to see the diggers chomping into the massive tube, a greatly missed landmark.

Its a massive site, but largely empty:(
 
I worked in Swindon in 1996 to 1998 and watched that Motorola building being built, those were heady days for Swindon, the local paper used to boast that Swindon had negative unemploment !
Driving past I still get a kick from looking at the modernistic skyline.
 
I worked in Swindon in 1996 to 1998 and watched that Motorola building being built, those were heady days for Swindon, the local paper used to boast that Swindon had negative unemploment !
Driving past I still get a kick from looking at the modernistic skyline.

I know the feelings, shame half the tube is gone now though :(
 

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