The office building at LEGO’s $1.5 billion Virginia manufacturing campus — constructed from mass timber — is on track to top out this spring. That is according to the LEGO Group, which confirmed the milestone as it unveiled plans for a 41,000-panel on-site solar park at the Chesterfield County facility.
The mass timber structure sits within a 13-building complex spanning 1.7 million square feet across 340 acres. LEGO says the choice of material — which stores biogenic carbon over its service life rather than releasing it — is central to reducing the site’s embodied carbon footprint and cutting reliance on non-renewable inputs.
Groundwork on the solar park is expected to start this summer. More than 30,700 ground-mounted panels across nearly 80 acres will deliver 22 megawatts of generating capacity. A further 10,080 rooftop panels add 6.11 megawatts, bringing the combined systems to 100 per cent renewable energy for annual operations. LEED Platinum certification is the end target.
The factory’s steel topped out in October 2025. It comes as Wood Central has tracked growing appetite among North American manufacturers for mass timber office and amenity buildings on industrial campuses, as embodied carbon commitments sharpen and ESG disclosure requirements tighten.
Jesus Ibañez, General Manager of LEGO Manufacturing Virginia, said the solar investment was “key to increasing our use of renewable energy and supporting our ongoing commitment towards more sustainable operations.”
More than 500 people are already employed across the factory under construction and a temporary packing facility — a figure LEGO expects to reach roughly 900 by year’s end as automated moulding and packing lines come online. The ten-year job commitment at the site stands at more than 1,700 positions.
