Led by Design

Today, that same instinct to serve and empower people through human-centered design sits at the heart of the Bombardier brand. Consider the hallmarks of the Global business jet family: industry-leading range, speed, field performance and smooth ride; comfort redefined by innovative features and award-winning designs; and subtle details that unlock unprecedented performance. On the ground, the company’s assembly facilities are built to ensure that the design principles guiding their products also support the people who build them.

The Bombardier Aircraft Assembly Centre, the company’s newest production facility at Pearson airport in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), takes this commitment to the cutting edge. Having officially opened in May of last year, this new facility features groundbreaking upgrades in the manufacturing experience for product and employee alike, offering a space for Global 5500, Global 6500, Global 7500, and upcoming Global 8000 aircraft production that is as thoughtful as it is streamlined, as spacious as it is industrious.

Perfect Partners

While Bombardier’s Downsview site has its rightful place in aviation history—serving as De Havilland Canada’s production plant for over 60 years before joining Bombardier in 1992—it simply couldn’t create the conditions befitting the next-generation Global 8000 aircraft, so the company moved operations into the heart of Canada’s busiest airport to help streamline delivery and testing.

Seeing an opportunity to reinvigorate its leadership in industrial design, the company teamed up with long-time partner NEUF architect(e)s, an architecture firm whose award-winning portfolio includes Bombardier’s Laurent Beaudoin Completion Centre in Montreal, Quebec. Leveraging a 50-year relationship, the pair set out to build a facility that mirrors the experiential design of the Global 8000. Right out of the gate, NEUF partner architect and Toronto office founder Lilia Koleva completely immersed herself in Bombardier’s innovative vision and process. “We didn’t approach this like an industrial building,” says Koleva. “We approached it as if we were designing an office building downtown because the future of manufacturing is human-centric, not just machine-centric. Yes, the Pearson facility needed to be practical and efficient, but there is also a community of about 2,200 people working there, calling it home eight hours a day. We needed to design for them.”

Under one Roof

At 40 acres, the campus layout is carefully designed to streamline the flow of Bombardier’s manufacturing lifecycle. It covers everything from the assembly of parts to the flight test hangar and engine testing before the aircraft make the trip to Montreal to receive the full interior treatment prior to delivery.

The 24-hour production line is U-shaped and adopts an ergonomic ‘all under one roof’ workflow inspired by the Japanese Buddhist principle of ichi soku issai, issai soku ichi (one is inseparable from the whole and vice versa). Removing silos creates a sense of family: a continuous stream of cross-functional collaboration that gives all employees full visibility, fostering faster outputs and a greater sense of ownership.

Koleva and her team designed the look and feel of the Bombardier Centre at Pearson to recreate the thrill and anticipation of the Global 8000’s production journey. In the main lobby, visitors are greeted by an installation of suspended panels inspired by the silhouette of the Global 8000’s trademark, turbulence-absorbing Smooth Flĕx wings. Acoustical engineers installed sound-dampening panels to ensure glassed-in conference rooms could have full visibility into the production floor without significant noise impact—another reflection of the Global 8000 aircraft, whose cabin is carefully designed to offer a sanctuary in the sky even at record-breaking speeds.

“The acoustic panels weren’t just functional,” says Koleva. “We designed them in a way that ties into the brand and space, creating a gradient transition to visually reinforce the purpose of the facility.” As guests and stakeholders navigate boardrooms and workstations, the paneling gradually changes color, brightening as you approach the production floor, beckoning you deeper into the belly of creation, reminding you that even the earliest stages of Global 8000 production are a thing of beauty.

Front Row Seats

While assembly has never been faster, it has also never been more cutting-edge. The facility houses some of the most advanced aircraft manufacturing technology integrated in the most efficient way. Fully mobile seven-ton cranes keep even the heaviest loads moving. Carbon fiber floor plates conceal miles of underfloor cabling for safer, tidier navigation, as well as GPS sensors mobilizing an army of laser-precise robotic riveters designed for drilling, countersinking and fastener installation. The Pearson facility is like a dance choreography: Everything and everyone working closely in concert with one another; every move flowing seamlessly into the next. As much as it’s a joy to watch it unfold, it seems like it’s even more exciting to be a part of it. Bombardier has created a facility where employees have more space—literally and figuratively. For all its sophistication and fast-paced performance, the Pearson facility breathes. Open-air workstations and high ceilings make the facility feel naturally bright and inviting.

Let There Be Light

Light plays a key role in Bombardier’s design philosophy. The human body needs daylight: It regulates our circadian rhythms and boosts focus and productivity. At 45,000 feet, Bombardier solved this by creating Soleil, the first circadian rhythm-based cabin lighting system fully-integrated with the aircraft’s flight management system. At the Pearson facility, Bombardier worked closely with NEUF to provide natural light in abundance. Translucent PVC ‘megadoors’, among the widest in all of aviation, are paired with countless rows of barcode-like vertical strip windows that recreate in-flight wayfinding lights, to bathe the facility in diffused natural daylight. This not only improves working conditions but also optimizes energy use, reducing consumption by nearly 60 percent and lowering greenhouse gas emissions by more than half compared to the previous location.

From the outside, these megadoors turn the Pearson facility into a beacon. “We were intentional about using the doors to create a seamless day-to-night transformation,” says Koleva. “Function by day, illuminated landmark by night.” Landmark indeed: Facing the busiest runway in Canada, the facility literally glows, creating a moment of recognition for all incoming and outgoing aircraft. “I remember looking at it one evening as the sun was setting and the entire facility had this beautiful soft glow,” says Koleva. “It felt like it was radiating energy.” Using natural diffused light to stand out rather than big, brash signage is a mark of true leadership—leadership that earns attention through purpose, not volume.

The Pearson facility is a monument to Bombardier’s legacy of pioneering human-centered design. Light, flow, and space are treated with the same care as performance and precision. Much like the aircraft for which the company has become renowned, it’s a place where the needs of the people shape the design of the experience. On the tarmac, in the air, and across every square foot of this facility, the message is clear: Bombardier isn’t just building the future of business aviation, it’s leading it by design.