Packard Motor Car factory 1903
The Packard Motor Car Company plant in Detroit on West Grand Boulevard was constructed in 1903. The Packard company was purchased by a group of Detroit entrepreneurs and moved from Warren, Ohio, to this new plant in September 1903.
The factory was designed by Kahn and Kahn, Architects and Engineers, the two Kahns being Albert and his brother Julius, a civil engineer. Kahn and Kahn was the first architecture firm in Detroit--and one of the first in the nation--to offer both architecture and engineering services. Albert Kahn realized at the time that increasingly complex manufacturing facilities would likely be designed by engineers rather than architects and he reoriented his practice to meet that need.
This photo shows the original 1903 Packard plant just as it was being completed. These buildings were standard brick and timber construction (mill construction) designed to minimize construction costs and reduce fire insurance expenses. Construction of the factory was completed within just 90 days.
In 1905, Packard decided to have a reinforced concrete factory building constructed (known as building number 10). It was the second reinforced concrete automobile factory, following the Cadillac Motor Car Company building at 450 Amsterdam in Detroit. Packard was pleased with the new building and subsequently had all buildings constructed of concrete; by 1917 the buildings seen here had been replaced by concrete structures.
The original photograph is at the National Automotive History Collection, Skillman Branch of the Detroit Public Library. It was colorized in Photoshop.
For more information see the Albert Kahn Legacy Foundation website at AlbertKahnLegacy.org. For more information on Packard building number 10 see "The First Concrete Auto Factory: An Error in the Historical Record" by Michael G Smith at doi.org/10.1525/jsah.2019.78.4.442.
Packard Motor Car factory 1903
The Packard Motor Car Company plant in Detroit on West Grand Boulevard was constructed in 1903. The Packard company was purchased by a group of Detroit entrepreneurs and moved from Warren, Ohio, to this new plant in September 1903.
The factory was designed by Kahn and Kahn, Architects and Engineers, the two Kahns being Albert and his brother Julius, a civil engineer. Kahn and Kahn was the first architecture firm in Detroit--and one of the first in the nation--to offer both architecture and engineering services. Albert Kahn realized at the time that increasingly complex manufacturing facilities would likely be designed by engineers rather than architects and he reoriented his practice to meet that need.
This photo shows the original 1903 Packard plant just as it was being completed. These buildings were standard brick and timber construction (mill construction) designed to minimize construction costs and reduce fire insurance expenses. Construction of the factory was completed within just 90 days.
In 1905, Packard decided to have a reinforced concrete factory building constructed (known as building number 10). It was the second reinforced concrete automobile factory, following the Cadillac Motor Car Company building at 450 Amsterdam in Detroit. Packard was pleased with the new building and subsequently had all buildings constructed of concrete; by 1917 the buildings seen here had been replaced by concrete structures.
The original photograph is at the National Automotive History Collection, Skillman Branch of the Detroit Public Library. It was colorized in Photoshop.
For more information see the Albert Kahn Legacy Foundation website at AlbertKahnLegacy.org. For more information on Packard building number 10 see "The First Concrete Auto Factory: An Error in the Historical Record" by Michael G Smith at doi.org/10.1525/jsah.2019.78.4.442.