The project - called Urbalad - involves several steps, including the renovation of existing buildings, the demolition of a number of obsolete facilities and the construction within the site of 67,000m2 new building.
The new building will be known as the RDI Campus (RDI being the French acronym for research, development and process engineering) and will allow Technology Centre teams to use new multidisciplinary, cross-functional work methods, thanks to a system of platforms for up to 20 people that can be adapted to specifi c project needs. It will also bring together Michelin's main research units, which currently operate on different sites. This consolidation will speed processes and promote cross-fertilisation among different businesses, Michelin has said.
Work is currently underway on the architectural design of the building and construction work on site is expected to start in 2012 with the fi rst section of the building completed and in use by 2014.
