Boeing’s Everett manufacturing facility — the Boeing Mega Factory — is the largest building on Earth.
If you’re not into planes, this mega factory might seem overwhelming, at first look.
To put it simply, this facility is nothing short of a city in itself.
Even if you are an aeronautical enthusiast, it’s still a lot.
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The factory covers an area of 98.3 acres in Everett, Washington.
It’s also the largest building by volume, having an interior volume of 472 million cubic feet.
To put that into perspective, that’s the size of more than 75 American football fields combined.
Now, that’s an insanely large building, even for the manufacturing of large jets.
So, what goes on in the Boeing Mega Factory?
Let’s go back in time, to see why the airplane manufacturer built this factory.
In the mid-1960s, the airplane manufacturer had to build the infamous Boeing 747 jumbo jet.
The 747 would go on to become 2.5 times bigger than all existing airplanes at the time.
Even today, the world’s largest luxury private jet is a 747.
Hence, to build the largest jumbo jet, Boeing needed a huge space to create it.
Enter the Boeing Mega Factory.
Ever since its construction in 1967, the Boeing Everett factory continues to be the company’s major manufacturing unit.
The airplane manufacturer continues to expand operations and even wants to sell flying cars by 2030.
Boeing employs over 36,000 workers there.
That’s 36,000 people going to work in the same building.
Furthermore, the facility has its own fire department, bank, childcare center, medical clinic, and other facilities.
However, there’s one unexpected thing that this facility doesn’t have — air conditioning.
So, how does the facility ventilate?
Workers inside open the insanely large doors on all sides and use fans to draw air inside.
The Boeing Mega Factory wasn’t as large as it is now when the company first finished construction.
It was expanded once in 1978 to accommodate production of the Boeing 767, and later in 1992 for the Boeing 777.
Over the past decade, Boeing has also added other buildings to include more departments within the factory.
