How LEGO Is Transforming Facilities into Engines of Innovation

Nat Shanks is a nationally respected facilities executive helping redefine the intersection of sustainability, industrial development, and infrastructure delivery in the United States. With nearly 30 years of experience overseeing complex operational environments across sectors like aerospace, finance, and manufacturing, Shanks now serves as Global Director of Facilities for The LEGO Group.

From his post in Virginia, Shanks is leading infrastructure delivery for LEGO’s flagship U.S. expansion—anchored by a $1 billion carbon-neutral manufacturing facility in Chesterfield County and a $366 million regional distribution center in Prince George County. Together, the sites mark one of North America’s most ambitious sustainability-focused production and logistics programs, reflecting both a private-sector climate commitment and a long-term bet on U.S.-based manufacturing.

Shanks’ work centers on transforming large-scale facilities into intelligent, adaptive ecosystems—merging energy efficiency, carbon reduction, and predictive operations with a human-centered design ethos. He works closely with global program leaders, architects, engineers, and local partners to ensure LEGO’s sites don’t just function—they reflect the company’s broader values— with creativity, well-being, and sustainability embedded at every level.

Prior to joining LEGO, Shanks led mission-critical facilities portfolios for Truist Bank, Rolls-Royce, Wells Fargo, JLL, and CBRE. His leadership continues to shape how commercial infrastructure is built, operated, and aligned with both environmental and economic goals nationwide.

Facilities management, at its highest level, transforms buildings into living systems—engines of innovation, sustainability, and measurable value. What was once viewed as a utilitarian function is today a strategic lever, where infrastructure, sustainability, culture, and technology converge.

At The LEGO Group, we don’t just maintain buildings—we imagine them. We craft spaces that are agile, intelligent, and rooted in human purpose. Our sites are not just operational— they’re ecosystems engineered to spark creativity, collaboration, and long-term value.

Our active developments in Virginia—a carbon-neutral factory in Chesterfield County and a regional distribution center in Prince George County—represent one of the largest industrial investments in LEGO’s history. Their significance lies not just in scope, but in sensibility. These are not facilities designed simply to meet sustainability metrics—they are interconnected, future-facing systems built from the ground up to reflect LEGO’s values: imagination, creativity, sustainability, care, and quality.

Building with Purpose: The LEGO Ethos in Practice

Inspired by LEGO’s philosophy of learning through play, we treat each site as a living system—modular, joyful, and everevolving. Just as LEGO bricks can be reimagined infinitely, our facilities are designed to grow and adapt, nurturing curiosity and connection.

But even more, these environments are conceived as spaces to explore ideas, solve problems, and engage the world. We believe that the built environment, when thoughtfully designed, can spark the same imaginative leaps as a pile of bricks in a child’s hands.

We’ve brought that ethos directly into the Virginia project. In fact, more than 250 local children were invited to co-design parts of the campus—using LEGO bricks to model treehouses, walking trails, and habitats. This isn’t symbolism—it’s system design. It’s infrastructure that begins with imagination.

Operational Foresight as Strategic Advantage

Facilities leaders are no longer stewards of space. We are integrators. We sit at the intersection of physical infrastructure, organizational performance, and human experience.

We ask: How does space shape behavior? How can operations scale without sacrificing quality? How can design align with mission, brand, and well-being?

These are not theoretical questions—they are design requirements. At our Virginia campus these questions become operational mandates. This is one of the ways we ensure that precision meets purpose in every decision.

Future-Ready Facilities, Purpose-Driven Principles

Designed to meet LEED Gold standards, with zero waste-tolandfill operations and locally sourced mass timber reducing embodied carbon by 40%, these facilities are fully powered by renewable energy through extensive solar arrays—enough to power the equivalent of 10,000 U.S. homes. They embody LEGO’s public environmental commitments: to cut GHG emissions 37% by 2032, achieve net-zero by 2050, and eliminate single-use plastics, while engaging suppliers to reduce emissions across the value chain.

But these efforts are just the beginning.

What makes these spaces different is how intentionally they merge environmental intelligence with cultural intuition. The design anticipates human rhythms as much as technical ones. These facilities are data-informed, energy-optimized, and culture-aligned—proof that carbon reduction and human enrichment can operate in sync.

These aren’t just buildings. They’re blueprints for the future of work, where operational precision unlocks human potential.

Living Systems, Inspired by Play

Great facilities management isn’t about machines—it’s about meaning.

At LEGO, our buildings aren’t just maintained—they’re imagined. Crafted to spark curiosity, built for agility, and designed around the rhythms of human collaboration. Each space is a living system—adaptive, intelligent, and rooted in people.

We don’t just design for performance. We design for purpose.

Inspired by our core belief in learning through play, we see every site as a chance to nurture creativity, connection, and joy. Like a set of LEGO bricks reimagined in infinite ways, our environments are designed to evolve—supporting new ideas, new ways of working, and new forms of shared meaning.

Because the most enduring systems aren’t just smart— they’re human. And the strongest systems—just like the best teams—are built brick by brick, with trust, imagination, and care at the core.

Organizations that lead the future will treat infrastructure not as background—but as a platform. A platform for innovation, for resilience, for sustainable growth—and perhaps something even more rare: play.