Todd Drouillard on Manufacturing Culture Podcast
July 17, 2026
Manufacturing Culture Podcast features Todd Drouillard, AIA, on designing facilities around people, processes, and production.
Industrial architecture is becoming an active part of manufacturing performance.
As production grows more specialized, the building can no longer be treated as a neutral container for equipment. Advanced manufacturing facilities must respond to complex processes while creating environments where people can work safely, effectively, and with a sense of connection to the work around them.
Todd Drouillard, AIA, principal and Business Leader for Science and Innovation at HED, joined the conversation to share lessons drawn from 25 years of designing clean rooms, hydrogen test cells, semiconductor plants, robotics laboratories, and other technically demanding environments. He examines how daylight, spatial planning, and purpose-built infrastructure can support operations, strengthen workplace culture, and help manufacturers retain skilled employees.
In the Manufacturing Culture Podcast episode “Todd Drouillard | Buildings as Machines,” host Jim Mayer speaks with Drouillard about why conventional warehouses often fall short as production environments and how the most effective factories operate as integrated systems shaped around both machinery and people.