A good example of what I'm referring to is illustrated by comparing a few different Chrysler Engineering buildings; namely Jeep Truck Engineering (JTE) on Plymouth Rd., Highland Park (HP) and the Chrysler Tech Center (CTC) in Auburn Hills.
If you've spent any amount of time in these buildings, you would quickly understand my point. Yes, you can argue that JTE and HP were much older than CTC. If you want to argue that angle, then I would point to the building that they were using to develop the then new RAM (Hemi) engine in Rochester Hills under none other then Robert (Bob) E. Lee. This building was a basic industrial unit with next to no windows in it. It was more recently constructed than CTC.
It wouldn't have taken you very long to notice how the employees differed in their general disposition, between these facilities, within the same company. It was night and day!
Earlier this year, I visited a pulley spinning factory near Frankfurt. It was probably built 60+ years ago, and even in their tool room, there was natural light pouring in. Whether people are conscious of it, or that it had effected their subconscious, natural light helps the working environment. Unfortunately, many industrial buildings in N.A. don't seem to value this fact.
I think that is all VW was trying to do with this 'The Glass Factory'. What some of you may not be aware of is that German car manufacturers are required to have union reps on their board of directors. This was no doubt a factor in how this factory got built.
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