FORD ROUGE CENTER ENVIRONMENTAL MASTER PLAN Dearborn, MI

Once an icon of America’s industrial might, the Ford Rouge Complex had become a symbol of industrial pollution and rust belt manufacturing when Ford Motor Company commissioned a master plan to modernize the facilities and begin a process of environmental restoration.

The plan is a comprehensive framework for 21st century manufacturing. It includes strategies for closed-loop manufacturing, renewable energy systems, ecosystem restoration and integrated stormwater management. 

The project includes a soil bioremediation program on the site of the abandoned coke ovens to detoxify and restore organic balance to the soil. Stormwater is filtered and conveyed in a series of vegetated ‘hedgerows’, pervious pavement areas and a 10-acre vegetated roof. The banks of the Rouge River, channelized to control flooding, will be replanted with wetland habitat. The plan also highlights the history of the complex through conservation of historic structures and the creation of new employee facilities on the site of significant events from the history of the labor movement. 

PROJECT ARCHITECT / PLANNER  Richard Price AIA

PROJECT LEADER William McDonough + Partners 

LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT Nelson Byrd