Cadillac today announced the development of Cadillac House at Vanderbilt — a new, state-of-the-art facility dedicated to the individualized, bespoke client experience of the Cadillac CELESTIQ, the world’s first all-electric ultra-luxury sedan.
Located on the modernist-style General Motors Global Technical Center campus, in Warren, Michigan, Cadillac House at Vanderbilt will welcome clients to collaborate personally with CELESTIQ designers and a concierge for an unparalleled custom commission experience. Cadillac will start the process of selected client engagements in late spring, with the facility welcoming the first clients in late-summer 2023.
“Every CELESTIQ is personally commissioned and working on-site with our Cadillac designers provides clients an elevated experience,” said Bryan Nesbitt, executive director, Global Cadillac Design. “It’s a unique opportunity to collaborate with our design team, enabling clients to directly translate their vision of their CELESTIQ into a one-of-one piece of moving sculpture.”
The new Cadillac House will be named after pioneering designer Suzanne Vanderbilt, who, in her day, was one of only a few women working in automotive design industry-wide. She joined GM Design in 1955, shortly before the Global Technical Center was inaugurated, and worked in the Cadillac studio. Her early work included the design of two unique vehicles: a 1958 Eldorado Seville Coupe called Baroness and the Cadillac Saxony convertible. She performed collaborative work with the Advanced Interior and Research Studios, designing safer vehicle interiors and securing two patents. Over the years, she provided essential mentorship to the next generation of women designers, before retiring in 1977.
The Global Technical Center, designated a National Historic Landmark in 2014, is an icon of midcentury design and set the standard for the modern American corporate campus. It was the first major commission awarded to the celebrated modern architect Eero Saarinen.
The building that Cadillac House at Vanderbilt inhabits — located directly across the lake from the main entrance — originally served as Central Restaurant and was an open space, where the brightest creative and technical minds met to collaborate and design the future of transportation. In 1955, the design won an Honor Award from the American Institute of Architects (AIA).
Distinctive among the other buildings on the Global Technical Center campus, the elegant, single-story structure optimizes aesthetic views. A stepped-floor elevation and glass curtain wall offer a panoramic view of the campus, with its iconic dome, new GM Design building, lake and the Alexander Calder-designed fountain, while Saarinen’s signature graceful modernist style is expressed through carefully weighted proportions, elongated horizontal orientation, and purity of materials such as travertine and terrazzo slabs, wood panels and stainless steel details.
The most noteworthy feature of Cadillac House at Vanderbilt is a large-scale, sculptural screen of glimmering gold designed by Harry Bertoia — one of only a few created by the Italian-born, Detroit-based artist and designer. Measuring 36 feet long and 10 feet tall, it is formed by individual plaques of enameled steel which Bertoia coated in molten metal for artistic effect. Bertoia was one of the many leading lights of midcentury modernism asked by Saarinen to collaborate on the project as design consultants or artists.
The personalization experience at Cadillac House at Vanderbilt is open to CELESTIQ clients around the globe, but for those who participate virtually, their journey remains highly personalized — and it also begins at the Cadillac House. It includes a one-on-one concierge experience to guide clients through the personalization process, while also providing them access to a Cadillac designer and additional exclusive services.
“From start to finish, the process is meticulously curated,” said Melissa Grady Dias, global chief marketing officer, Cadillac. “And regardless of where clients choose to collaborate with the Cadillac team, we will offer an extraordinary variety of commission options, ensuring every desire for their vehicle can be fulfilled. Each CELESTIQ is tailored to reflect its owner’s tastes, which are conveyed directly to the design team.”
Selected clients will be led through a design consultation process by a concierge, in addition to their CELESTIQ Certified Dealer of choice, who is dedicated to guiding them through every aspect of the journey.
In addition to Cadillac House at Vanderbilt, every CELESTIQ will be constructed at the Artisan Center — another facility on GM’s 67-year-old, 710-acre campus that is globally recognized as the preeminent innovation center for automotive engineering, design and advanced technology.
Within the Artisan Center’s walls, a hand-selected team of highly talented artisan makers, united in their vision for perfection, will hand-craft every client’s CELESTIQ from the ground up. It’s a return to the type of bespoke craftsmanship that forged Cadillac’s legacy as the Standard of the World more than a century ago.
CELESTIQ is expected to arrive to clients in late-spring 2024. Production will be very limited and CELESTIQ is available through inquiry only.
SOURCE: Cadillac
