McLaren’s headquarters in Woking has become a quiet star of modern cinema, doubling as everything from a galactic spaceport to a high-tech villain’s lair. The McLaren Technology Centre was conceived as a statement of engineering ambition, yet its clean lines and futuristic curves now make it as familiar to location scouts as to Formula 1 fans. I want to understand why this one building keeps turning up on screen, and what its repeat casting says about the way film-makers imagine the future.
The real-world sci‑fi set hiding in Woking
On paper, the McLaren Technology Centre is an office and factory complex, but on camera it reads like a ready-made science fiction set. The sweeping glass façade, the circular plan and the way the main building hugs an artificial lake give it a visual clarity that directors can drop straight into a storyboard without heavy modification. When I look at how often the campus is used, it is clear that the architecture itself is doing half the production design work before a crew even unloads a truck.
The building was designed so that, if viewed from above, the main structure and the water feature form a distinctive shape that echoes McLaren’s engineering focus, a detail highlighted in a feature on the campus’s 20th anniversary that framed the site as an award-winning Technology Centre. That same piece described how the lake wraps around the building and how carefully managed vegetation softens the glass and steel, which helps explain why the campus can believably play both utopian and dystopian futures on screen. The result is a location that feels otherworldly without ever losing its grounding in real engineering.
From Coruscant to Andor: McLaren in a Galaxy Far, Far Away
The most high-profile example of McLaren’s HQ on film comes from a galaxy that is, in theory, far removed from Surrey. In the Star Wars universe, the campus has stood in for parts of Coruscant, the city-planet that represents the political and bureaucratic heart of that fictional galaxy. When I watch those scenes, the translation from real-world technology campus to interstellar hub feels almost seamless, which is precisely why the building keeps being invited back.
According to a detailed overview of the site’s media appearances, the Technology Centre was used as a Coruscant spaceport, while the OKX Thought Leadership Centre on the same campus provided additional futuristic interiors. Fans later spotted the same curves and glass in the Star Wars series Andor, where parts of the MTC reappeared as sleek Imperial infrastructure, a connection that was picked up in short-form breakdowns and reaction clips. One TikTok explainer, for instance, pauses on the way the building’s circular plan and internal walkways echo mechanical components, noting that from certain angles it forms shapes like a piston, a detail that underlines how easily the campus slips into the visual language of Mar’s industrial sci‑fi.
Fast cars and faster franchises: Hobbs, F1 and Hollywood
McLaren’s headquarters has not only been drafted into space opera, it has also become a go-to backdrop for high-octane action. Parts of the MTC have already appeared in multiple movies and television series, including Andor and Fast and Furious: Hobbs & Shaw, where the building’s glass corridors and lakeside paths help sell the idea of a cutting-edge tech facility. When I track those appearances, a pattern emerges: whenever a script calls for a place where speed, power and secrecy intersect, location scouts seem to reach for Woking.
A retrospective on McLaren’s long relationship with cinema notes that the company’s cars and branding have featured in productions ranging from the classic Grand Prix, which showcased the M2B’s white and green livery during McLaren’s Formula 1 debut at the 1966 Monaco race, through to more recent blockbusters like Fast and Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw, where the brand’s modern supercars share screen time with its headquarters. That same heritage piece, titled McLaren at the movies, ties the on-screen presence of the cars directly to the visual appeal of the campus, arguing that the MTC’s architecture is now as recognisable to film fans as the orange flashes on a McLaren Formula 1 chassis, a connection that helps explain why Grand Prix and Hobbs & Shaw sit on the same continuum.
Brad Pitt, APXGP and the F1 movie turning MTC into a co‑star
The latest wave of attention for McLaren’s HQ comes from a different kind of blockbuster, one that blurs the line between documentary and drama. For the upcoming Formula 1 film starring Brad Pitt, teams across the grid opened their doors to the production, and McLaren’s campus was among the most cinematic locations on offer. I see this as a natural extension of the building’s previous roles, but with an added layer of authenticity, because this time it is playing a version of itself.
Reporting on the film’s location choices notes that parts of the MTC have already been used in multiple movies and TV series, including Andor and Fast and Furious: Hobbs & Shaw, and that the production has again taken advantage of the campus’s glass walkways and the path next to the lake to stage scenes for the fictional APXGP team. One detailed account of the shoot describes how the crew used specific Parts of the MTC that fans would recognise, even if the film never explicitly labels them as McLaren’s home, and how the production threaded its cameras through working spaces without ever catching a glimpse of Lando Norris in shot. That same coverage, written in Jun, underlines how comfortable the campus now is with the rhythms of a film crew, which only makes it more attractive for future projects.
Architecture built for cameras as much as for cars
What makes the MTC so camera-friendly is not just its glass and water, but the way its structure echoes the mechanical parts McLaren engineers every day. The building’s plan and internal layout were designed to reflect automotive components, which gives cinematographers strong lines and repeating patterns to work with. When I look at stills from its various screen roles, the recurring motifs are obvious: long sightlines, curved corridors and a constant interplay between reflection and transparency.
A detailed breakdown of the campus’s design quirks notes that part of the layout resembles a car’s wishbone, a structural element that is central to suspension design, and that the lake surrounding the building holds around 30 million litres of water, which helps regulate temperature as well as providing those mirror-like exterior shots. That same piece, which opens with the line “Here are 10 things you didn’t know about the McLaren Technology Centre,” points out that this Part of the design is not just aesthetic, it is functional, yet it also gives directors a ready-made visual metaphor for precision engineering. When those structural choices are combined with the carefully curated vegetation around the lake, which softens the edges of the glass, the result is a location that can be lit and framed in countless ways without ever losing its identity.
Marketing savvy: how Brown turned a factory into a film brand
There is also a strategic dimension to McLaren’s recurring screen time that goes beyond the building’s looks. Under chief executive Zak Brown, the company has leaned into its role as a media-friendly brand, treating film and television appearances as part of a broader marketing strategy rather than as one-off curiosities. When I trace the pattern of recent productions that have used the MTC, it is hard to ignore the fingerprints of a leader who understands how pop culture can reinforce a racing team’s image.
An in-depth analysis of McLaren’s media strategy notes that Brown has a background in marketing and describes him as a master at using the headquarters as a stage for storytelling, whether the project is a sci‑fi epic or Formula 1’s own ventures into scripted drama. That same piece argues that this is why the MTC keeps showing up in hit movies, framing the campus as a kind of character in its own right and suggesting that Brown sees every on-screen appearance as a chance to reinforce McLaren’s identity as a technology company as much as a racing team. The article, published in Dec, even spells out how Brown’s approach has turned the HQ into a natural choice for any director looking for a believable setting for a science fiction movie, which is a remarkable evolution for what is, at its core, a factory.
Fan culture, social media and the joy of spotting the MTC
Part of the reason McLaren’s HQ keeps being cast is that audiences now enjoy recognising it. In an era of frame-by-frame breakdowns and social media callouts, a distinctive location can generate its own buzz as viewers share clips and screenshots. I see this feedback loop at work every time a new blockbuster lands and fans rush to point out that a supposedly alien city or secret base is, in fact, Woking.
Short-form videos and posts have amplified this effect. One YouTube short titled “Did you spot McLaren Technology Centre in Andor” shows a presenter excitedly matching shots from the series to real-life angles at the campus, even pausing to mention that some of the cars on display inside include machines like Denny Holm’s car, which he calls one of the most beautiful he has ever driven, before cutting back to the show’s production design and the way it frames the building’s curves, a connection that is captured in the Apr clip. On Instagram, posts tagged with SWIPE! and Did you know invite followers to slide through carousels explaining that the McLaren F1 team base, officially known as the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey, doubled as a Star Wars location, with one post explicitly linking the SWIPE prompt to hashtags like #formula1, #mclaren, #starwars and #disney. A companion post repeats the Did you know hook and again spells out that the Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey, was used as a filming location, reinforcing the idea that spotting the campus has become a kind of in-joke among fans who share the Did posts.
Why directors keep coming back: flexibility, control and a living set
For directors and production designers, the MTC offers something that studio backlots and CGI cannot easily replicate: a living, working environment that still looks like a controlled, almost abstract space. The building’s long corridors and open-plan galleries allow crews to stage action sequences, dialogue scenes and sweeping establishing shots without constantly changing location. When I consider the logistics of a major shoot, that kind of flexibility is invaluable.
Coverage of the Brad Pitt F1 film’s production notes that crews were able to move through the campus, using the path next to the lake and interior walkways, while McLaren continued its day-to-day operations, a level of cooperation that would be difficult in a more cluttered industrial site. One report on the filming locations explains that the team carefully selected vantage points that showcased the MTC’s architecture without revealing sensitive engineering work, a balance that allowed the building to function as a set while still being a functioning headquarters. That same account, which again credits Jun as the writer, highlights how the production used the path next to the lake for tracking shots that could just as easily belong in a spy thriller as in a sports drama, underlining the campus’s versatility.
A 20‑year evolution from secretive base to pop‑culture landmark
When the McLaren Technology Centre opened, it was framed as a closed world, a place where cutting-edge racing technology was developed behind glass and water. Two decades on, it has become one of the most recognisable pieces of corporate architecture in popular culture. I find that shift striking, because it reflects a broader change in how elite sports teams present themselves to the public, moving from secrecy to curated openness.
A feature marking 20 Years, 20 Secrets of the campus’s history describes how the lake, the building’s footprint and the surrounding vegetation were all designed to create a sense of calm and control, a far cry from the noise and chaos of a race weekend. That same piece notes that the Technology Centre has won awards for its design and environmental integration, and that its carefully managed campus has become a symbol of McLaren’s identity. When that identity is projected into a Galaxy Far, Far Away, as one Dec analysis of the MTC’s Star Wars role puts it, the building becomes more than just a backdrop, it becomes shorthand for a certain vision of the future, which is why the article jokes that you will excuse the pun when it calls the MTC’s on-screen life a journey into a Galaxy Far, Far Away. In that sense, McLaren’s HQ has completed a rare loop: built to house the pursuit of speed, it now also embodies the way modern entertainment imagines what speed, power and technology look like on screen.
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