Modern Manufacturing Demands Modern Meeting Spaces
Modern Manufacturing Demands Modern Meeting Spaces
Hitachi Rail’s new lighthouse digital factory in Hagerstown, Maryland represents a major investment in the future of North American rail manufacturing. Built around advanced production capabilities and a workplace design philosophy centered on collaboration and efficiency, the facility needed conference spaces that could keep pace with its innovation-first culture.
Conference rooms inside a facility like this rarely serve one purpose. On any given day, the same room might host project planning, engineering reviews, customer presentations, training sessions, or executive meetings — each with different privacy needs.
Rather than compartmentalize these spaces with blinds or curtains, Hitachi Rail turned to PriWatt® switchable privacy glass to build flexibility directly into the architecture itself.
Project Snapshot
Client: Hitachi Rail
Location: Hagerstown, Maryland
Application: Conference room privacy, digital manufacturing facility
Technology: PriWatt® Switchable Privacy Glass
Installation Type: New construction integration
Environment: Corporate conference rooms within an active manufacturing facility
Manufacturing: Smart Glass Group, USA
Installation: Certified integration partner – Smart Glass Technologies LLC
The Challenge
As a next-generation production facility, Hitachi Rail’s Hagerstown site was designed around openness, natural light, and visual connectivity between teams. But conference rooms needed to flex between two competing demands: staying visually connected to the surrounding workspace most of the day, while offering full privacy on demand for sensitive discussions and client meetings.
Hitachi Rail needed a solution that could:
- Preserve an open, connected feel in shared workspace areas
- Deliver full privacy instantly when meetings required it
- Support a wide range of uses — planning sessions, engineering discussions, client presentations, training, and executive meetings
- Maintain the clean, modern architectural language of the facility
- Avoid the maintenance and dated aesthetic of blinds or curtains
The Solution
PriWatt® switchable privacy glass was integrated into the facility’s conference rooms, giving Hitachi Rail instant control over transparency without altering the architectural design.
In its transparent state, the glass keeps conference rooms visually open to the surrounding workspace, reinforcing the collaborative, connected feel central to the facility’s design. When privacy is needed, the glass switches instantly to an opaque state — creating a focused, private environment for the meeting at hand.
This on-demand shift between open and private lets the same room support everything from casual planning sessions to confidential executive discussions, without any physical reconfiguration.
Why Switchable Privacy Glass Works for Advanced Manufacturing Facilities
Facilities built around innovation and operational excellence need infrastructure that reflects those same values. Switchable privacy glass offers several advantages over traditional window treatments in this environment:
- Instant privacy on demand, with no manual adjustment
- Preserved sightlines and natural light when privacy isn’t needed
- A clean, modern aesthetic consistent with contemporary facility design
- No fabric, slats, or mechanical parts to maintain
- Flexibility to support a wide range of meeting types in a single space
- A durable, professional finish suited to high-traffic industrial and corporate environments
Built for Workplaces That Don’t Stand Still
Modern manufacturing facilities are increasingly designed around adaptability — spaces that can shift function throughout the day without sacrificing professionalism or design intent. Static privacy solutions struggle to keep up with that pace.
By building privacy control directly into the glass, Hitachi Rail’s conference rooms adapt instantly to whatever the moment requires, keeping the facility’s workflow uninterrupted and its design language intact.
Manufactured in North America
Every PriWatt® system is engineered and manufactured by Smart Glass Group using advanced production processes and rigorous quality standards. Our team oversees every stage of production, including:
- Precision film conversion
- Electrical integration
- Quality assurance testing
- Performance validation
- Project-specific engineering support
This commitment ensures reliable performance in demanding industrial and corporate environments alike.
Project Outcome
By integrating PriWatt® switchable privacy glass into its Hagerstown facility, Hitachi Rail created conference spaces that move as fast as its business does — open and connected by default, private the instant it matters. The result is a set of meeting spaces built for the way modern manufacturing teams actually work.
Explore Industrial & Corporate Solutions With PriWatt
Whether you’re designing a new manufacturing facility or upgrading existing conference spaces, PriWatt® helps architects, facility managers, and business leaders build privacy and flexibility directly into their environments.
Contact our team to request technical specifications or discuss your next project.
