The construction phase of the new £300+ million landmark extension to the Home of Rolls-Royce at Goodwood has begun, with the pouring of the first concrete foundation pads adjacent to the marque’s existing manufacturing facility and global headquarters.
The inaugural pads have been installed on the northern elevation of the site, where the new Exterior Surface Centre (Paint Shop) will be located. Contractors will work their way southwards, creating a network of around 650 pads that form the foundations upon which this vital building will stand.
Goodwood is the Home of Rolls-Royce in both name and fact, as the only place in the world where Rolls-Royce motor cars are designed and hand-built. The marque is ever mindful of this unique status, and is deeply sensitive to the building’s location in the beautiful West Sussex countryside, near the South Downs National Park.
Opened in 2003, the original site was designed to blend into its surroundings. Its carefully considered blend of materials and the most significant ‘living roof’ in the UK render it invisible from beyond its boundaries; the extension builds on this legacy.
It has been meticulously designed to be sympathetic to the existing building and local landscape while reflecting advances in architecture, aesthetics, construction methods and approaches to the environment, conservation and biodiversity over the intervening 22 years.
Rolls-Royce applied for planning permission following an extensive consultation involving residents and relevant authorities, agencies, utilities and other stakeholders, supported by expert professional advisors and consultants.
Since the Chichester District Council granted permission in March 2024, progress on the project has been remarkably swift. The extensive groundworks required, including the landscaped bunds designed to screen the site from view, are well advanced. Comprehensive upgrades have also been made to local footpaths, with planned planting contributing to a projected 12% biodiversity net gain.
The 40,000-square-metre extension will also house the new Surface Finish Centre and create much-needed capacity for the marque’s rapidly expanding Bespoke activities. These reached record levels in 2024, driven by the substantial growth in client requests for more technically complex, authentically challenging, and highly individualised Bespoke commissions, which peak in Coachbuild projects.
This growth is a direct result of the marque’s continued investment in its global network of Private Offices, which has expanded from the original at Goodwood to international luxury centres, including Dubai, Shanghai, New York and Seoul.
At more than £300 million, the extension project represents the single most significant investment in the Home of Rolls-Royce since the facility opened in 2003.
Rolls-Royce became a great British manufacturing success story at that time, with over 2,500 people on site and supporting 7,500 jobs in its wider supply chain.
An independent study by the London School of Economics (LSE) showed the company has added more than £4 billion to the UK economy and currently makes an annual contribution of over £500 million.