A Factory Seen Through a Child's Eyes

Dexter is a Chinese care brand for mothers, babies and families. Guided by the idea of being "more professional, more gentle", it focuses on baby bath and skin care, has developed a range of solutions made specifically for Chinese babies, and has risen to become one of the leading new domestic brands in the field.

1F: lobby (180 m²) and workshop (6,606 m²). 2F: e-commerce shipping (6,786 m²). 3F: workshop (6,500 m²) and cafeteria (286 m²). 4F: lip balm production (6,786 m²). 5F: sky garden (3,000 m²) and offices (3,786 m²).

Dexter built its Dream Factory in Tongling, with a total floor area of about 34,000 m² and a total investment of 530 million yuan. It brings in advanced international production lines and automated equipment, and its entire production environment meets the Class 100,000 GMP standard. The Dream Factory is to be a global showcase of sustainable, efficient production, and a destination where customers can experience the brand's culture.

This is the first integrated production base for a benchmark brand in mother-and-baby care. Drawing on Dexter's "more professional, more gentle" philosophy and the nature of its industry, E Studio set out to bring the company's commitment to both technology and humanity into the design, and to weave, through a child's eyes, a new kind of factory complex for working, producing and living that people can feel as the brand.

Pond of the Skies

The form of the Dream Factory's entrance hall comes from a distinctive image of bath time: as a baby is washed, bubbles surround it as softly as clouds in the sky. The lightness and freedom of clouds bring a modern sense of ease, so that visitors, reminded of bath time, feel a relaxed, gentle atmosphere.

The hall is built from the square and the circle. Against this wide backdrop of round heaven and square earth, thin square panels float in mid-air in a soft glow, forming a guardian totem that stands for embrace and protection, just as Dexter's natural, safe and effective products gently care for every part of a baby's delicate skin.

Lobby

Dexter's sky blue is the main colour. The strong, minimal impression of blue and white gives visitors a sense of a brand they can trust, while the façade, the pale blue mosaic and the mirrored white bubble pattern all call up memories of bath time, leaving a lasting impression through interaction with the brand and its products.

Courtyard: A Clear-Sky Wonderland

From the Pond of the Skies, a lift rises straight to the landscaped courtyard: under clear skies, among a sea of flowers, lies a free and open playground for parents and children. We wanted to improve on the dull, closed working conditions factory staff have long been used to, and to bring Dexter's core value, "With love & care", into the daily work and life of everyone in the company.

Rather than piling up scenery in the vocabulary of traditional gardens, and mindful of the roof's load limits, the design looks for the simplest forms to carry the greatest imagination, as free and bold as a child's drawing.

Lunar Archipelago

Seen through a child's eyes, everything becomes charming and romantic. The courtyard looks as if seen through an imaginative, hand-drawn filter. Its outlines are mostly circles and arcs that wrap around and cross one another, expressing the idea of parent and child, and of connection.

Small children need to play within sight of an adult, so the landscape's heights fully respect children's reach and safety. Large flat areas make it possible to let them play freely, while hills, flower beds and a campsite add layers to the landscape and the views within this safe range.

Grass Dunes

The Dream Factory shows that a sustainable future is not only better for the environment: it also makes the workplace more beautiful and the visit more enjoyable.

Bonfire Party

Work as a Pleasure

The offices are arranged around the courtyard, so that staff can work and live in a natural, relaxed and friendly setting that meets their inner needs. Glass partitions replace the walls of the surrounding rooms, opening and lengthening views from inside and bringing everyone as close to the landscape as possible.

CEO's Office

The CEO's office sits in the northeast corner of the courtyard, where openness and privacy coexist. With the line between inside and outside blurred, the courtyard extends the office back toward nature, to be looked at and walked through. The office keeps the brand's mother-and-baby character in its warm, soft palette, so that whoever works here can stay comfortable and at ease.

Bar

Half-height timber partitions set off a semi-private tea area, dividing the space without closing it, so the office stays open and airy. The factory also has a canteen and a restaurant that give staff and visitors a warm, comfortable place to eat.

Workshop

Dexter's modern workshops have 14 sets of CNC mixing equipment and 10 fully automated packaging lines, and the entire production environment meets the Class 100,000 GMP standard.

E Studio keeps searching for the approaches and solutions that best fit a brand's character. Here it set aside the old image of the monotonous factory and took the chance to rethink what a factory brand can be today. The Dream Factory expresses Dexter's love and care for nature, for its staff and for society, and its mission to set the benchmark for its industry.

Client
Dexter

Location
Tongling, Anhui

Area
34,000 m²

Completion Date
2023.09

Design Firm
E Studio

Lead Designer
Fan, Junjian
Zhou, Xuanzhuo
Liu, Reychan

Design Team
Xu, Meng
Huang, Chenxi
Wang, Xiaoxi
Ma, Jiarong
Wang, Yuda

FF&E
E Studio Materials Innovation
Zhou, Jing
Deng, Changyi

Lighting Design
默克照明

Photographer
鲁哈哈

Suppliers
VOXFLOR
英国曼涂
双欧瓷砖
LEJU
时屿软装
厚朴

Construction
深圳北辰装饰