Nissan opens European Design Centre in London

January 25, 2002 - Carlos Ghosn, President and CEO, Nissan Motor Company and Shiro Nakamura, Senior Vice President and Head of Design, this week officially opened the new Nissan design studio in London.

Published 2 July 2015 - 14:14 Modified 2 July 2025 - 15:35

Nissan Design Europe will lead the development of the next generation of Nissan cars in Europe and beyond. The studio will be home to around 50 international designers, modellers and support staff and will play a strategically important role in Nissan’s creative network which comprises six design studios worldwide.

“Design is fundamental at Nissan. Most importantly it is a key driver behind ‘Nissan 180’, our global growth plan. Today’s event is the demonstration of the value we attribute to design as we continue to create and launch exciting and attractive cars specially designed with European customers in mind,” said Carlos Ghosn, President and CEO, Nissan Motor Company.

Shiro Nakamura, Senior Vice President and Head of Design, Nissan Motor Company said: “Today’s opening fully demonstrates our commitment to design and innovation in the motor industry. The location that we have chosen is ideal, as it will allow our design teams a unique space within which to explore, define and create their ideas.”

The central London location in the rapidly developing area of the Paddington Basin was chosen because of its multi-cultural backdrop and the access it provides to important and influential sources in contemporary art, architecture, fashion and design movements.

The studio is housed in The Rotunda, a former British Rail maintenance depot built in the 1960s which had fallen into disrepair and been unused since the 1980s. The site was selected specifically for its spacious interior which allowed Nissan to transform the building into a tailor-made urban design space.

The complex, designed by architect Paul Hamilton and completed in 1969, is today recognised as a classic piece of modernist architecture. Hamilton recieved the Architectural Design Project Award in 1966 and an award from the British Concrete Society in 1969. At the time, the complex was heralded as a prime example of urban architecture, being both functional and aesthetic, and fitting perfectly with its natural built-up environment.

Durng the 1980’s the Rotunda fell in to disrepair, attracting a variety of graffiti artists, and becoming a venue for rave parties. In 1994, the building obtained an English heritage grade II star listing, which underlies its importance as a landmark design of the post-war British Modern Movement.

In Spring 2002 Nissan Design Europe ended months of searching for a talior-made design studio. The spacious environment immediately offered scope for the architects Tate and Hindle to consider bold and adventurous use of the former maintenance depot.

The transformation of the Rotunda began in Autumn 2002. Nissan Design Europe wanted to give new value and meaning to the building’s bold curvaceous structural design and set out to create an inspiring workplace for its teams, that is based on the Japanese concept of ‘wa’, meaning harmony. The result is a highly contemorary and inspiring workplace in which existing building elements sit alonside and contrast the new building features.

Nissan Design Europe set out to ensure that many facets of the Rotunda’s history were preserved. Expressions left by graffiti artists that include tag writing and Gaudi-esque paintings have been retained as part of the building’s interior features.

The studio features three floor levels. The open-plan ground floor accomodates full-size modelling plates, a Tarus milling machine, and a showroom area. The upper levels include a mezzanine floor covering more than half the building footprint and providing air-conditioned design studio space housing design team workstations.

The studio also includes a new entrance area, administration offices, presentation room, a showroom and a ‘chill out’ zone for teams to share ideas and relax in informal surroundings. Other features include a special lighting system that recreates different types of daylight to assist designers in their work.

The new studio combines design resources previously located near Munich in Germany and Cranfield in the UK. Nissan Design Europe has increased its staff by 25 percent, an indication of the importance of the studio to Nissan’s global design operations.

Nissan Design Europe was established in Munich, Germany in 1992. The Munich-based team has joined design colleagues from Nissan’s UK Technical Centre in Cranfield at the new London studio. The design center comprises approximately 50 international designers, modellers and support staff.

Nissan Design Europe comprises three design teams led by Shuji Takano, Vice President. Mr Takano joined Nissan in 1979, and has worked in Nissan design studios in Japan, Belgium and Germany. He is a graduate of Kyushu Institute of Design, and the Royal College of Art in London.

The individual design teams are led by three Studio Chief Designers: Christopher Reitz, Stéphane Schwarz and Makoto Yamane.

Christopher Reitz graduated from Art Center Europe in Switzerland, and began his career at VW, before joining Audi in 1996, where he worked on the inthe interior design for the Audi A4, A6, A2 and the AL2 concept. He joined Nissan Europe in 1999, where he led the design of the Crossbow 4x4 concept, unveiled at the Frankfurt Show in 2001.

Stéphane Schwarz, also an Art Center Europe graduate, began his career wth Pininfarina, and joined Nissan Design Europe in1994, where he worked on the Primera and Primera Estate concept and production projects, as well as the Kino concept, shown at the last Tokyo Motor Show.

Makoto Yamane graduated from the Nihon University College of Art in Tokyo, and began his career at Nissan in Japan in 1988, where his work included the exterior design of the Silvia and Presea. After further study at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, he returned to Nissan to work on the Stagea and GT-R concept, exhibited at the Tokyo Motor Show in 2001.

A separate cross functional team is led by David Godber, general Manager of NDE. This team comprises several groups including colour and trim design, digital design, modelling, design strategy, communication and business development.

Other Nissan studios worldwide include the Nissan Design Center in Atsugi City, Kanagawa, the Product Design Department at Nissan Shatai Co Ltd in Hiratsuka City, Kanagawa, and Creative Box Inc., situated in the heart of Tokyo’s fashion district Shibuya.

There are two design studios in North America: Nissan Design America Inc. in San Diego, California (founded in 1979), and the North America studio, NDA Farmington Hills Studio in Michigan (founded in 1989).