Eleven days ago Mercedes-Benz announced the $7.3 million purchase of the defunct Chrysler Pacifica Advanced Product Design Center and now the company is detailing its plans for the studio. With three times the space of its current facility, Mercedes is looking forward to growing its design capacity in the U.S.

Located just outside Carlsbad, California, the newly acquired operation joins the automaker's design studios in Como Tokyo and Sindelfingen as one of its global centers for new product creation. Outside the focused stream of day-to-day production, the 25 people working at the center will focus on breaking new ground for the future of Mercedes design.

With over 35,000 square feet of space, the possibilities are nearly endless, including the construction of life-size models - something that couldn't have been done at the previous facility. The studio will draw on art, culture and architecture indigenous to each design center to help drive and influence future design, allowing Mercedes to better target and design for specific markets while retaining the characteristically Mercedes look.