Here are 10 things you didn’t know about the McLaren Technology Centre

Specifically, we’re talking about the supporting blades of the MTC, which take after the suspension components of a Formula One car. It’s a neat touch, but why stop there? Surely office desks made from the monocoque of Lando Norris’ car and pens inspired by Oscar Piastri’s brakes would’ve worked a treat.

Yep, you read that correctly. If the average human drinks two litres of water a day, the MTC's lake would keep you going for 41,095 years. Top Gear arithmetic aside, the water is also used to help keep the complex cool on the three days of hot weather we get each year in the UK.

The MTC is a big ol’ place, covering over 50 hectares of space in the heart of Woking. So what do you do when the building itself only takes up a fraction of it? You plant over 100,000 trees and shrubs, of course. And then you make sure each one of the five company car parks has at least 14,000 plants. Used to be an ostrich farm, apparently.

Speaking of wildlife, the MTC has lots of it roaming around. The lakes and rivers alone play host to 11 different species of damselflies and dragonflies, while 25 types of butterfly seek refuge throughout the year. And presumably, many hungry caterpillars too.

If you ever find yourself invited to a McLaren Christmas bash at the MTC, and you decide to take a cranberry juice-fuelled stroll by the lake, you’ll be greeted by many, many carp fish. McLaren is quite proud of the fact that they've grown substantially in size from the carp that initially made their home here. We're not sure if fishing is allowed, though...

When construction started, the workforce removed over 300,000 cubic metres of earth before redistributing it around other sections of the site. If you’re not familiar with said metric, that’s around 300 million litres of soil and mud. Or how much the average German Shepherd will dig up from the garden when it’s bored.

Aside from the Fast and Furious spin-off, the MTC was even used as a set for the Star Wars series Andor. Makes sense, given the otherworldly architecture and clean backdrop. 

The MTC has indeed been built to ‘feel’ part Disney and part NASA. No, that really was the brief. 10 per cent of the former and 90 per cent of the latter, to be exact. We’re not too sure how McLaren landed on those figures, but you can't argue with the end result.

And that’s not even the entire building; purely the main frame. Nor are we talking about puny light aircraft, because it’s claimed that nine Boeing 747s could fit when placed nose to tail. Imagine packing up for the evening and realising you’ve left your car keys on the other side of the building. Oops.

That’s because he’s Sir Norman Foster, who is also the man behind Wembley Stadium and the Gherkin building in London. Not to mention the 180-metre-tall Century Park Tower in Tokyo and Hong Kong International Airport. Quite a resume, to say the least. Come on McLaren, let him try his hand at a supercar...