The LEGO Group is expanding its global brand with a 1.7M SF production facility at Meadowville Technology Park in Chesterfield, Virginia. The Denmark-headquartered company’s $1 billion factory will be carbon-neutral run and will employ more than 1,760 people. The project will be located on a roughly 340-acre industrial site bordering the James River.
Founded in 1932, the LEGO Group’s global brand is a fixture for many adults and children alike. The company’s slogan, which roughly translates to “Only the best is good enough,” speaks to the LEGO Group’s brand values of imagination, creativity, fun, learning, caring, and quality. The toy company’s investment in its patrons has and will continue to create a genuine culture of inspiration and nostalgia for many generations.
The LEGO Group broke ground for the $1 billion investment on April 13, 2023, hosting top state officials and key community partners at the ceremony. At the groundbreaking, the company announced it will be providing an initial $1 million to charitable organizations that support local children from disadvantaged backgrounds with learning through play programs. That’s in addition to $300 thousand the company has already provided in support of the Museum of Richmond and the Science Museum of Virginia in 2022 as part of the ongoing LEGO® Playful Learning Museum Network initiative.
Before the groundbreaking, the LEGO Group hosted a children’s workshop at the Dewey Gottwald Center at the Science Museum of Virginia. The event, titled “Build the Change,” gave local children a say in the site’s development where they used LEGO® bricks to design their own ideals of how to use the space around the factory buildings.
The new plant, like all of the LEGO Group’s properties, will use high-tech solutions to mold, process, and pack LEGO® products, which will result in zero waste to landfill. The manufacturing plant’s ambitious green footprint is being designed with Gold LEED certification in mind, an environmental-conscious certification from the United States Green Building Council.
Designs for the 13-building parcel include an administration building, a high-bay store, a packing area, collaboration workspaces, and wellbeing areas for employees, utilizing the same blueprint for all LEGO factories.
The site will be designed to operate as a carbon-neutral run factory which means it will be a highly energy efficient site and 100% of its energy needs will be met by onsite renewable sources, including an on-site solar plant comprising 35,000-40,000 ground panels and 15,000-20,000 roof panels generating 30-35 MW in total capacity — the equivalent energy needed to power approximately 10,000 American homes. The LEGO Group’s ambition is for the solar plant to match the total annual energy requirements of the site.
It will also reuse and recycle waste and non-renewable resources such as water, while sharing the same ambition as all LEGO® operations of achieving zero waste from factories to landfill.
The LEGO Group chose Meadowville Technology Park in Chesterfield, Virginia for the new facility because of the site’s flexibility and proximity to major markets, which allows the company to shorten the supply chain and reduce environmental impact.
The Virginia project exhibits the LEGO Group’s and consultants’ joint experience from cooperation on other manufacturing projects, which has allowed teaming partners the opportunity to focus on creating the most desirable conditions for LEGO® employees, the environment, the community, and production processes.
Timmons Group’s robust experience with Meadowville Technology Park since its inception has allowed involved teams the opportunity to provide essential and valuable consultation to the LEGO Group project. The firm has been tied to the success of the property since its late founder JK Timmons purchased the initial acreage, which was later zoned in 1996.
Living by the slogan, “Connect Here,” Meadowville Technology Park is a world-class business center that has attracted high-tech industries to Chesterfield. The park’s master plan incorporates integrated mixed-uses surrounding a center village and is home to Fortune 500 companies and other giants like Amazon Fulfillment, Niagara Bottling, Digital Fortress, and Medline. Timmons Group, Chesterfield, and the Chesterfield County Economic Development Authority (EDA) are proud to welcome the LEGO Group to this economic development hub in Central Virginia through a unique and collaborative partnership.
Construction on the factory is underway following the groundbreaking in April and is projected to wrap up in 2025, with hopes for production to begin in the latter half of the year. The facility will create 1,760 jobs, and the LEGO Group is participating in the Virginia Talent Accelerator Program to raise awareness in the local market for current and future roles. A temporary packaging site will open in an existing building nearby in early 2024 and will create up to 500 immediate jobs.
