An Architectural Review of Toyota's New Texas Headquarters

Dallas News Architecture Critic Mark Lamster has checked-in on the new campus of Toyota Motor Company of North America, which recently made a high-profile move from California to Plano, Texas.

The decision to move from Torrance, in the South Bay area of Los Angeles County, to Plano, Texas was publicized as a slight against California's business climate and evidence of the appeal and growing predominance of Texas.

A lot has happened since 2014, both economically and politically, and now the focus is just on what Toyota, and Plano, has gained in the exchange. Lamster summarizes his review of the new facility, then, as a Toyota Camry—"safe but boring." The review ranges from consideration of transit access, the parking lot, the project's LEED Platinum status ("It is nevertheless reasonable to ponder whether the campus of a company that makes automobiles — even electric ones — and that is poorly served by public transit can be considered 'green'"), the campus's adherence to the traditions of corporate modernism, and its position in the suburban sprawl of North Dallas.