Inmos microprocessor factory

Building in Newport, Wales

Inmos microprocessor factory

The microprocessor factory in 2019 when it was owned by Newport Wafer Fab

General information
Architectural style| High-tech
Location| Newport
Address| Cardiff Road
Country| Wales
Coordinates| 51°33′57″N 3°01′21″W﻿ / ﻿51.56583°N 3.02250°W﻿ / 51.56583; -3.02250
Construction started| 1980
Completed| 1982
Owner| Vishay Intertechnology
Technical details
Size| 8,900 m²
Floor count| 1 (factory area)
Design and construction
Architect(s)| Project Architects:
David Bartlett
Pierre Botschi
Mike Davies
Sally Eaton
Michael Elkan
Marco Goldschmied
Kunimi Hayashi
Tim Inskip
Julia Marks
Peter McMunn
Richard Rogers
John Young
Architecture firm| Richard Rogers Partnership
Structural engineer| Anthony Hunt Associates
Services engineer| YRM Engineers
Quantity surveyor| G A Hanscomb
Main contractor| Laing Construction
Awards and prizes|

* Structural Steel Design Award 1982[1]
* Eurostructpress Award 1983
* Financial Times Architecture at Work Award Commendation 1983
* Constructa-Preis for Overall Excellence in the Field of Architecture 1986

The Inmos microprocessor factory, also known as the Inmos factory, previously known as Newport Wafer Fab,[2] now known as Nexperia Newport,[3] is a semiconductor fabrication plant for Inmos built in Newport, Wales, UK in 1980. It has gone through numerous changes in ownership. Since March 2024, the factory has been owned by Vishay Intertechnology.

The architects of the award-winning high-tech building were the Richard Rogers Partnership and the factory was the first building in Wales which Richard Rogers designed.[4]

## Ownership

[edit]

The building was originally commissioned by Inmos, but by July 1984 Thorn EMI had taken over Inmos. In March 1989, Thorn EMI sold Inmos to SGS-Thomson Microelectronics NV.[5][6]

In 1999, a management buyout took over the factory, renaming the business, European Semiconductor Manufacturing Limited.[7]

In March 2002, the factory was sold to International Rectifier Company (GB) Limited.[8]

In January 2015 it was acquired by Infineon Technologies, under its subsidiary company IR Newport Ltd.[9]

In September 2017, Infineon sold the site to Neptune 6 Limited, under its subsidiary company of Newport Wafer Fab Limited.[10][9]

In July 2021 the site was sold to Chinese-owned Dutch-headquartered Nexperia, who also have plants in Hamburg and Manchester.[11][12] Kwasi Kwarteng, then Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, deemed the sale insignificant to national security at the time of the acquisition.[13] Based on a report by Datenna, CNBC reported on 7 July that about 30% of the shares of Nexperia's parent company Wingtech could be traced back to the Chinese government,[14] which, according to Datenna, led to high-level Chinese government influence in 2021.[15]

On 8 July 2021, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that a security review would be launched, overriding Kwarteng's initial assessment.[16][17] He appointed National Security Adviser Stephen Lovegrove as head of the review process.[18] Newport Water Fab only heard about the review through media reports.[19] In December 2021, Lovegrove assured that the sale was under review but would not go into details.[18] In April 2022, the investigation was completed and had come to the same conclusion as the previous Deputy National Security Advisor, that the plant was not a national security issue because the technology used was 20 years old and China already had it.[12]

In May 2022, a new Datenna investigation found that the overall percentage of shares traced to Chinese government entities declined to about 20 percent, resulting in a medium risk of government influence.[15]

In May 2022, another investigation was launched under the National Security and Investment Act.[20][21] The investigation was supposed to take 30 days[22][23] but ended up taking almost 6 months.[24] On 16 November 2022, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy of the British government ordered Nexperia to divest 86% of its ownership interest in Nexperia Newport Limited (NNL, formerly Newport Wafer Fab) for national security reasons,[25] which Nexperia has vowed to appeal.[26][27] Nexperia's UK manager said they rescued an investment-starved company from collapse, [...] repaid taxpayer loans, secured jobs, wages, bonuses and pensions, and agreed to spend more than £80 million on equipment upgrades since early 2021".[2] The company said the decision was "legally wrong and disproportionate" in light of changes it had made to address the government's concerns, including a promise not to produce more sophisticated compound semiconductors.[28]

In December 2022, it was announced Nexperia had engaged New York law firm, Akin Gump to act on their behalf in their application for a judicial review of the UK government’s decision.[29] Nexperia agreed to sell the facility to Vishay Intertechnology for $177 million in November 2023.[30] Nexperia sold 100% of Nexperia Newport Limited, which owned and operated the Newport facility, to Vishay.[31][32] In March 2024, the UK government approved the acquisition of the Newport wafer fab, as announced by Secretary of State Oliver Dowden.[33][34][35] With the acquisition by Vishay, the 580 Newport employees retained their positions.[36]

## History of design and construction

[edit]

The former Inmos microprocessor factory in 2007 when it was owned by International Rectifier

Inmos Limited commissioned the Richard Rogers Partnership, now known as Rogers Stirk Harbour & Partners, to design its UK microprocessor manufacturing facility at Newport. The design criterion was for a fast construction, so that it was ready for operation within one year of starting.[37] Richard Rogers until then was known for designing the Centre Pompidou in Paris and the Lloyd's building in London. The main contractor for the construction of the building was Laing Construction, the structural engineers were Anthony Hunt Associates, the services engineers were YRM Engineers and the quantity surveyors were GA Hanscomb Partnership.[38]

The technical requirements were that it would house controlled conditions for the production of electronic microchips, a service area for various offices and a staff canteen, all under one roof.[37] The Inmos factory was designed to be a model factory that could be constructed in a variety of locations. The speed of the design process and construction time of the building were critical. The 8,900 square metres (96,000 sq ft) single-storey building was designed to be fabricated off-site, and assembled on the Newport site.[38]

The building is divided into clean and "dirty" areas. The cleanroom being for microchip production and the dirty area for all others services in the building. The building has a central spine which is 7.2 metres (24 ft) wide and 106 m (348 ft) from which all the services and production area emanates from eight bays with the potential to increase this to 20 bays.[37][39] Suspended beams span 40m from the central spine with masts along the length of the building allowing for a post-free area,[40][41] and so providing a flexible interior and the possibility of large work areas.[40] Reyner Banham, the architectural critic and writer, said of the Inmos factory that it was "the first really challenging building of the 1980s."[42] Construction began in 1980 and was completed by 1982.[40]

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ "Structural Steel Design Awards 1969 - 2011". Steel Construction Info. Retrieved 8 May 2022.
2. ^ a b Sharwood, Simon (17 November 2022). "UK forces China company to offload Newport Wafer Fab". Retrieved 20 November 2022.
3. ^ Barry, Sion (17 November 2023). "Nexperia appoint advisers to look at possible sale of its Newport microchip factory". www.business-live.co.uk. Retrieved 2 May 2023.
4. ^ "All Projects". Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners. Archived from the original on 23 March 2009. Retrieved 17 September 2009.
5. ^ Hart, Jeffrey A (1993). Rival Capitalists: International Competitiveness in the United States, Japan, and Western Europe. Cornell University Press. pp. 176. ISBN 978-0-8014-9949-4. Retrieved 26 September 2009. "Thorn EMI Inmos."
6. ^ "Newport Wafer Fab The Latest Chip Plant To Fall". BNET. 1998. Retrieved 25 September 2009.
7. ^ "Newport Wafer-Fab Bought Out For $160M". United Business Media. Retrieved 25 September 2009.
8. ^ "Sale of Newport wafer fab to IR saves 260 jobs". Reed Business Information. Retrieved 25 September 2009.
9. ^ a b "In the news: Infineon selling IR Newport manufacturing site to new firm Neptune 6". Semiconductor Centre Limited. Retrieved 20 February 2020.
10. ^ "A Critical Component of the Semiconductor Cluster". CS Connected. Retrieved 20 February 2020.
11. ^ "Chinese-owned Nexperia confirms acquisition of UK's largest chip plant". CNBA. 5 July 2021. Retrieved 11 July 2021.
12. ^ a b "UK ministers quietly approve Chinese microchip factory takeover". POLITICO. 1 April 2022. Retrieved 1 April 2022.
13. ^ Titcomb, James (2 July 2021). "Chinese-backed firm to take over UK's biggest microchip factory". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 3 July 2024.
14. ^ Shead, Sam (7 July 2021). "The Chinese firm behind the acquisition of the UK's largest chip plant is state backed, analysis shows". CNBC. Retrieved 1 April 2022.
15. ^ a b "The Acquisition of Newport Wafer Fab and Nexperia". Datenna. 26 June 2022. Archived from the original on 26 June 2022. Retrieved 26 June 2024.`{{cite web}}`: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
16. ^ "Newport Wafer Fab: Chinese sale not probed despite PM pledge". BBC News. 5 April 2022. Retrieved 3 July 2024.
17. ^ "China takeover of UK silicon wafer plant to be reviewed over security". www.ft.com. Retrieved 3 July 2024.
18. ^ a b "UK opens national security probe into 2021 sale of local wafer fab to Chinese company". The Register. 16 May 2022. Retrieved 3 July 2024.
19. ^ Shead, Sam (3 August 2021). "Chip plant says it has not heard anything from UK government on national security probe". CNBC. Retrieved 3 July 2024.
20. ^ "Nexperia talks up its investment in UK wafer fab, says no plans to close". The Register. 6 July 2022. Retrieved 4 July 2024.
21. ^ "UK government officially begins national security assessment of Newport Wafer Fab acquisition". DCD. 26 May 2022. Retrieved 4 July 2024.
22. ^ "UK orders national security assessment of sale of microchip factory to China's Nexperia". Reuters. 25 May 2022. Retrieved 4 July 2024.
23. ^ Warrington, James; Boland, Hannah (25 May 2022). "China admits economy is worse now than during pandemic". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 4 July 2024.
24. ^ Field, Matthew (18 November 2022). "How Newport Wafer Fab became a flashpoint in Britain's showdown with China". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 4 July 2024.
25. ^ "Newport Wafer Fab decision: notice of final order" (PDF). gov.uk. 16 November 2022. Retrieved 26 June 2024.
26. ^ "UK orders China's Nexperia to sell at least 86% of microchip factory". Reuters. 16 November 2022. Retrieved 16 November 2022.
27. ^ "Chinese ownership of Newport microchip plant a 'security risk'". BBC. 16 November 2022. Retrieved 26 June 2024.
28. ^ Jolly, Jasper; Badshah, Nadeem (16 November 2022). "British government blocks takeover of Welsh semiconductor producer". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 26 June 2024.
29. ^ Manners, David (30 December 2022). "Nexperia engages New York law firm to fight UK government over Newport Wafer Fab". Electronics Weekly. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
30. ^ Gross, Anna; Pickard, Jim (8 November 2023). "Nexperia sells Newport Wafer Fab to US chip company for $177mn". Financial Times.
31. ^ "Vishay Intertechnology Acquires Nexperia's Newport Wafer Fab for $177 Million". Yahoo Finance. 6 March 2024. Retrieved 27 June 2024.
32. ^ "Vishay Powers Up: Completes $177M Acquisition Of Nexperia's Wafer Fab In Major UK Semiconductor Push". MSN. Retrieved 27 June 2024.
33. ^ "Newport Wafer Fab sale wins government approval". 18 March 2024. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 18 March 2024.
34. ^ "Newport Wafer Fab: Semiconductor plant takeover gets go-ahead". 1 March 2024. Retrieved 18 March 2024.
35. ^ "Vishay completes acquisition of Nexperia's Newport Wafer Fab following UK Government approval". www.semiconductor-today.com. Retrieved 18 March 2024.
36. ^ "Technology: Hundreds of jobs saved after Nexperia forced to sell". BBC. 8 November 2023. Retrieved 27 June 2024.
37. ^ a b c "Inmos Microprocessor Factory". Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners. Archived from the original on 21 April 2008. Retrieved 24 September 2009.
38. ^ a b "Inmos Microprocessor Factory" (PDF). Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 October 2007.
39. ^ "Encyclopedia of World Biography on Richard Rogers". www.bookrags.com/. Retrieved 22 September 2009.
40. ^ a b c "Inmos Microelectronics Plant". Nicolas Janberg (Structurae). Retrieved 17 September 2009.
41. ^ "Patscenter, Princeton, New Jersey, USA". Columbia University. Retrieved 24 September 2009.
42. ^ Whiteley, Nigel (2003). Reyner Banham: Historian of the Immediate Future. Cambridge: MIT Press. p. 294\. ISBN 978-0-262-73165-2. Retrieved 26 September 2009.

## External links

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Inmos factory.

* Inmos microprocessor factory on the Rogers Stirk Harbour & Partners website
* Inmos microprocessor factory on the Great Buildings website
* Photos of the construction of the Inmos microprocessor factory on www.inmos.com
* AD Classics: Inmos Microprocessor Factory / Richard Rogers Partnership, link at ArchDaily

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