diff --git a/changelog/build-cache.dd b/changelog/build-cache.dd
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a6ee0b7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog/build-cache.dd
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+Binary output will now be in a central cache
+
+Up until now, dub would output build artifact in the package directory.
+
+This allowed reuse of build artifact for dependencies, but also created
+issues with large amount of build artifacts in the packages folder,
+preventing the use of read-only location to store packages,
+and making garbage collection of build artifacts unreliable.
+
+Starting from this version, build artifacts will be output by default to
+`$HOME/.dub/cache/build/$BASE_PACKAGE_NAME/$PACKAGE_VERSION/[+$SUB_PACKAGE_NAME]`
+on Linux, and
+`%APPDATA%/cache/build/$BASE_PACKAGE_NAME/$PACKAGE_VERSION/[+$SUB_PACKAGE_NAME]`
+on Windows.
diff --git a/changelog/metadata-cache.dd b/changelog/metadata-cache.dd
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..69cd539
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog/metadata-cache.dd
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+DUB API breaking change: `Package.metadataCache` setter and getter have been removed
+
+Those two functions were used to provide access to the metadata cache file
+to the generator. They were never intended for public consumption,
+and the JSON file format was not stable.
+
+Due to the introduction of the build cache, they needed to be removed,
+as there was no way to provide a sensible transition path, and they should be unused.
+If you have a use case for it, please open an issue in dub repository.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/source/dub/commandline.d b/source/dub/commandline.d
index 95060b9..2651cba 100644
--- a/source/dub/commandline.d
+++ b/source/dub/commandline.d
@@ -1629,6 +1629,7 @@
 		GeneratorSettings settings = this.baseSettings;
 		if (!settings.config.length)
 			settings.config = m_defaultConfig;
+		settings.cache = dub.cachePathDontUse(); // See function's description
 		// Ignore other options
 		settings.buildSettings.options = this.baseSettings.buildSettings.options & BuildOption.lowmem;
 
@@ -1688,27 +1689,10 @@
 		enforce(free_args.length == 0, "Cleaning a specific package isn't possible right now.");
 
 		if (m_allPackages) {
-			bool any_error = false;
-
-			foreach (p; dub.packageManager.getPackageIterator()) {
-				try dub.cleanPackage(p.path);
-				catch (Exception e) {
-					logWarn("Failed to clean package %s at %s: %s", p.name, p.path, e.msg);
-					any_error = true;
-				}
-
-				foreach (sp; p.subPackages.filter!(sp => !sp.path.empty)) {
-					try dub.cleanPackage(p.path ~ sp.path);
-					catch (Exception e) {
-						logWarn("Failed to clean sub package of %s at %s: %s", p.name, p.path ~ sp.path, e.msg);
-						any_error = true;
-					}
-				}
-			}
-
-			if (any_error) return 2;
+			dub.clean();
 		} else {
-			dub.cleanPackage(dub.rootPath);
+			dub.loadPackage();
+			dub.clean(dub.project.rootPackage);
 		}
 
 		return 0;
diff --git a/source/dub/dub.d b/source/dub/dub.d
index 5d06304..24fd4de 100644
--- a/source/dub/dub.d
+++ b/source/dub/dub.d
@@ -255,6 +255,7 @@
 
 				m_dirs.userSettings = NativePath(dubHome);
 				m_dirs.userPackages = m_dirs.userSettings;
+				m_dirs.cache = m_dirs.userPackages ~ "cache";
 			}
 		}
 
@@ -286,6 +287,7 @@
 		// config loaded from user settings and per-package config as well.
 		if (!overrideDubHomeFromEnv && this.m_config.dubHome.set) {
 			m_dirs.userPackages = NativePath(this.m_config.dubHome.expandEnvironmentVariables);
+			m_dirs.cache = m_dirs.userPackages ~ "cache";
 		}
 	}
 
@@ -683,6 +685,7 @@
 	*/
 	void generateProject(string ide, GeneratorSettings settings)
 	{
+		settings.cache = this.m_dirs.cache;
 		// With a requested `unittest` config, switch to the special test runner
 		// config (which doesn't require an existing `unittest` configuration).
 		if (settings.config == "unittest") {
@@ -701,6 +704,7 @@
 	*/
 	void testProject(GeneratorSettings settings, string config, NativePath custom_main_file)
 	{
+		settings.cache = this.m_dirs.cache;
 		if (!custom_main_file.empty && !custom_main_file.absolute) custom_main_file = getWorkingDirectory() ~ custom_main_file;
 
 		const test_config = m_project.addTestRunnerConfiguration(settings, !m_dryRun, config, custom_main_file);
@@ -778,23 +782,36 @@
 		if (delimiter != "\0\0") writeln();
 	}
 
-	/// Cleans intermediate/cache files of the given package
+	/// Cleans intermediate/cache files of the given package (or all packages)
+	deprecated("Use `clean(Package)` instead")
 	void cleanPackage(NativePath path)
 	{
-		logInfo("Cleaning", Color.green, "package at %s", path.toNativeString().color(Mode.bold));
-		enforce(!Package.findPackageFile(path).empty, "No package found.", path.toNativeString());
+		auto ppack = Package.findPackageFile(path);
+		enforce(!ppack.empty, "No package found.", path.toNativeString());
+		this.clean(Package.load(path, ppack));
+	}
+
+	/// Ditto
+	void clean()
+	{
+		const cache = this.m_dirs.cache;
+		logInfo("Cleaning", Color.green, "all artifacts at %s",
+			cache.toNativeString().color(Mode.bold));
+		if (existsFile(cache))
+			rmdirRecurse(cache.toNativeString());
+	}
+
+	/// Ditto
+	void clean(Package pack)
+	{
+		const cache = this.packageCache(pack);
+		logInfo("Cleaning", Color.green, "artifacts for package %s at %s",
+			pack.name.color(Mode.bold),
+			cache.toNativeString().color(Mode.bold));
 
 		// TODO: clear target files and copy files
-
-		if (existsFile(path ~ ".dub/build")) rmdirRecurse((path ~ ".dub/build").toNativeString());
-		if (existsFile(path ~ ".dub/metadata_cache.json")) removeFile((path ~ ".dub/metadata_cache.json"));
-
-		auto p = Package.load(path);
-		if (p.getBuildSettings().targetType == TargetType.none) {
-			foreach (sp; p.subPackages.filter!(sp => !sp.path.empty)) {
-				cleanPackage(path ~ sp.path);
-			}
-		}
+		if (existsFile(cache))
+			rmdirRecurse(cache.toNativeString());
 	}
 
 	/// Fetches the package matching the dependency and places it in the specified location.
@@ -1301,6 +1318,25 @@
 		}
 	}
 
+	/**
+	 * Compute and returns the path were artifacts are stored
+	 *
+	 * Expose `dub.generator.generator : packageCache` with this instance's
+	 * configured cache.
+	 */
+	protected NativePath packageCache (Package pkg) const
+	{
+		return .packageCache(this.m_dirs.cache, pkg);
+	}
+
+	/// Exposed because `commandLine` replicates `generateProject` for `dub describe`
+	/// instead of treating it like a regular generator... Remove this once the
+	/// flaw is fixed, and don't add more calls to this function!
+	package(dub) NativePath cachePathDontUse () const @safe pure nothrow @nogc
+	{
+		return this.m_dirs.cache;
+	}
+
 	/// Make a `GeneratorSettings` suitable to generate tools (DDOC, DScanner, etc...)
 	private GeneratorSettings makeAppSettings () const
 	{
@@ -1820,6 +1856,20 @@
 	 */
 	NativePath userPackages;
 
+	/**
+	 * Location at which build/generation artifact will be written
+	 *
+	 * All build artifacts are stored under a single build cache,
+	 * which is usually located under `$HOME/.dub/cache/` on POSIX,
+	 * and `%LOCALAPPDATA%/dub/cache` on Windows.
+	 *
+	 * Versions of dub prior to v1.31.0 used to store  artifact under the
+	 * project directory, but this led to issues with packages stored on
+	 * read-only filesystem / location, and lingering artifacts scattered
+	 * through the filesystem.
+	 */
+	NativePath cache;
+
 	/// Returns: An instance of `SpecialDirs` initialized from the environment
 	public static SpecialDirs make () {
 		import std.file : tempDir;
@@ -1840,6 +1890,7 @@
 				result.userSettings = NativePath(getcwd()) ~ result.userSettings;
 			result.userPackages = result.userSettings;
 		}
+		result.cache = result.userPackages ~ "cache";
 		return result;
 	}
 }
diff --git a/source/dub/generators/build.d b/source/dub/generators/build.d
index 19a39b0..d0f295c 100644
--- a/source/dub/generators/build.d
+++ b/source/dub/generators/build.d
@@ -249,7 +249,8 @@
 			string packageName = pack.basePackage is null ? pack.name : pack.basePackage.name;
 			m_tempTargetExecutablePath = target_path = getTempDir() ~ format(".dub/build/%s-%s/%s/", packageName, pack.version_, build_id);
 		}
-		else target_path = pack.path ~ format(".dub/build/%s/", build_id);
+		else
+			target_path = packageCache(settings.cache, pack) ~ "build/" ~ build_id;
 
 		if (!settings.force && isUpToDate(target_path, buildsettings, settings, pack, packages, additional_dep_files)) {
 			logInfo("Up-to-date", Color.green, "%s %s: target for configuration [%s] is up to date.",
diff --git a/source/dub/generators/generator.d b/source/dub/generators/generator.d
index f3b261a..7f4fc90 100644
--- a/source/dub/generators/generator.d
+++ b/source/dub/generators/generator.d
@@ -12,7 +12,9 @@
 import dub.generators.build;
 import dub.generators.sublimetext;
 import dub.generators.visuald;
+import dub.internal.utils;
 import dub.internal.vibecompat.core.file;
+import dub.internal.vibecompat.data.json;
 import dub.internal.vibecompat.inet.path;
 import dub.internal.logging;
 import dub.package_;
@@ -654,7 +656,10 @@
 		auto srcs = chain(bs.sourceFiles, bs.importFiles, bs.stringImportFiles)
 			.filter!(f => dexts.canFind(f.extension)).filter!exists;
 		// try to load cached filters first
-		auto cache = ti.pack.metadataCache;
+		const cacheFilePath = packageCache(NativePath(ti.buildSettings.targetPath), ti.pack)
+			~ "metadata_cache.json";
+		enum silent_fail = true;
+		auto cache = jsonFromFile(cacheFilePath, silent_fail);
 		try
 		{
 			auto cachedFilters = cache["versionFilters"];
@@ -713,7 +718,9 @@
 			"versions": Json(versionFilters.data.map!Json.array),
 			"debugVersions": Json(debugVersionFilters.data.map!Json.array),
 		];
-		ti.pack.metadataCache = cache;
+        enum create_if_missing = true;
+        if (isWritableDir(cacheFilePath.parentPath, create_if_missing))
+            writeJsonFile(cacheFilePath, cache);
 	}
 
 	private static void mergeFromDependent(const scope ref BuildSettings parent, ref BuildSettings child)
@@ -760,8 +767,38 @@
 	}
 }
 
+/**
+ * Compute and returns the path were artifacts are stored for a given package
+ *
+ * Artifacts are usually stored in:
+ * `$DUB_HOME/cache/$PKG_NAME/$PKG_VERSION[/+$SUB_PKG_NAME]/`
+ * Note that the leading `+` in the subpackage name is to avoid any ambiguity.
+ * Build artifacts are usually stored in a subfolder named "build",
+ * as their names are based on user-supplied values.
+ *
+ * Params:
+ *   cachePath = Base path at which the build cache is located,
+ *               e.g. `$HOME/.dub/cache/`
+ *	 pkg = The package. Cannot be `null`.
+ */
+package(dub) NativePath packageCache(NativePath cachePath, in Package pkg)
+{
+	import std.algorithm.searching : findSplit;
+
+	assert(pkg !is null);
+	assert(!cachePath.empty);
+
+	// For subpackages
+	if (const names = pkg.name.findSplit(":"))
+		return cachePath ~ names[0] ~ pkg.version_.toString()
+			~ ("+" ~ names[2]);
+	// For regular packages
+	return cachePath ~ pkg.name ~ pkg.version_.toString();
+}
+
 
 struct GeneratorSettings {
+	NativePath cache;
 	BuildPlatform platform;
 	Compiler compiler;
 	string config;
diff --git a/source/dub/package_.d b/source/dub/package_.d
index 522425c..c406925 100644
--- a/source/dub/package_.d
+++ b/source/dub/package_.d
@@ -309,22 +309,6 @@
 		writeJsonFile(filename, m_info.toJson());
 	}
 
-	/// Get the metadata cache for this package
-	@property Json metadataCache()
-	{
-		enum silent_fail = true;
-		return jsonFromFile(m_path ~ ".dub/metadata_cache.json", silent_fail);
-	}
-
-	/// Write metadata cache for this package
-	@property void metadataCache(Json json)
-	{
-		enum create_if_missing = true;
-		if (isWritableDir(m_path ~ ".dub", create_if_missing))
-			writeJsonFile(m_path ~ ".dub/metadata_cache.json", json);
-		// TODO: store elsewhere
-	}
-
 	/** Returns the package recipe of a non-path-based sub package.
 
 		For sub packages that are declared within the package recipe of the
diff --git a/source/dub/project.d b/source/dub/project.d
index b3ac03c..84027d7 100644
--- a/source/dub/project.d
+++ b/source/dub/project.d
@@ -320,7 +320,9 @@
 			mainfile = getTempFile("dub_test_root", ".d");
 		else {
 			import dub.generators.build : computeBuildName;
-			mainfile = rootPackage.path ~ format(".dub/code/%s/dub_test_root.d", computeBuildName(config, settings, import_modules));
+			mainfile = packageCache(settings.cache, this.rootPackage) ~
+				format("code/%s/dub_test_root.d",
+					computeBuildName(config, settings, import_modules));
 		}
 
 		auto escapedMainFile = mainfile.toNativeString().replace("$", "$$");
diff --git a/test/cache-generated-test-config.sh b/test/cache-generated-test-config.sh
index a8ce0cc..b3e1721 100755
--- a/test/cache-generated-test-config.sh
+++ b/test/cache-generated-test-config.sh
@@ -2,7 +2,8 @@
 
 . $(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")/common.sh
 cd ${CURR_DIR}/cache-generated-test-config
-rm -rf .dub
+rm -rf $HOME/.dub/cache/cache-generated-test-config/
+DUB_CODE_CACHE_PATH="$HOME/.dub/cache/cache-generated-test-config/~master/code/"
 
 ## default test
 ${DUB} test --compiler=${DC}
@@ -12,15 +13,15 @@
 
 EXECUTABLE_TIME="$(${STAT} cache-generated-test-config-test-library)"
 [ -z "$EXECUTABLE_TIME" ] && die $LINENO 'no EXECUTABLE_TIME was found'
-MAIN_TIME="$(${STAT} "$(ls .dub/code/*/dub_test_root.d)")"
+MAIN_TIME="$(${STAT} "$(ls $DUB_CODE_CACHE_PATH/*/dub_test_root.d)")"
 [ -z "$MAIN_TIME" ] && die $LINENO 'no MAIN_TIME was found'
 
 ${DUB} test --compiler=${DC}
-MAIN_FILES_COUNT=$(ls .dub/code/*/dub_test_root.d | wc -l)
+MAIN_FILES_COUNT=$(ls $DUB_CODE_CACHE_PATH/*/dub_test_root.d | wc -l)
 
 [ $MAIN_FILES_COUNT -ne 1 ] && die $LINENO 'DUB generated more then one main file'
 [ "$EXECUTABLE_TIME" != "$(${STAT} cache-generated-test-config-test-library)" ] && die $LINENO 'The executable has been rebuilt'
-[ "$MAIN_TIME" != "$(${STAT} "$(ls .dub/code/*/dub_test_root.d | head -n1)")" ] && die $LINENO 'The test main file has been rebuilt'
+[ "$MAIN_TIME" != "$(${STAT} "$(ls $DUB_CODE_CACHE_PATH/*/dub_test_root.d | head -n1)")" ] && die $LINENO 'The test main file has been rebuilt'
 
 ## test with empty DFLAGS environment variable
 DFLAGS="" ${DUB} test --compiler=${DC}
@@ -30,15 +31,15 @@
 
 EXECUTABLE_TIME="$(${STAT} cache-generated-test-config-test-library)"
 [ -z "$EXECUTABLE_TIME" ] && die $LINENO 'no EXECUTABLE_TIME was found'
-MAIN_TIME="$(${STAT} "$(ls .dub/code/*-\$DFLAGS-*/dub_test_root.d)")"
+MAIN_TIME="$(${STAT} "$(ls $DUB_CODE_CACHE_PATH/*-\$DFLAGS-*/dub_test_root.d)")"
 [ -z "$MAIN_TIME" ] && die $LINENO 'no MAIN_TIME was found'
 
 DFLAGS="" ${DUB} test --compiler=${DC}
-MAIN_FILES_COUNT=$(ls .dub/code/*-\$DFLAGS-*/dub_test_root.d | wc -l)
+MAIN_FILES_COUNT=$(ls $DUB_CODE_CACHE_PATH/*-\$DFLAGS-*/dub_test_root.d | wc -l)
 
 [ $MAIN_FILES_COUNT -ne 1 ] && die $LINENO 'DUB generated more then one main file'
 [ "$EXECUTABLE_TIME" != "$(${STAT} cache-generated-test-config-test-library)" ] && die $LINENO 'The executable has been rebuilt'
-[ "$MAIN_TIME" != "$(${STAT} "$(ls .dub/code/*-\$DFLAGS-*/dub_test_root.d | head -n1)")" ] && die $LINENO 'The test main file has been rebuilt'
+[ "$MAIN_TIME" != "$(${STAT} "$(ls $DUB_CODE_CACHE_PATH/*-\$DFLAGS-*/dub_test_root.d | head -n1)")" ] && die $LINENO 'The test main file has been rebuilt'
 
 ## test with DFLAGS environment variable
 DFLAGS="-g" ${DUB} test --compiler=${DC}
@@ -48,16 +49,16 @@
 
 EXECUTABLE_TIME="$(${STAT} cache-generated-test-config-test-library)"
 [ -z "$EXECUTABLE_TIME" ] && die $LINENO 'no EXECUTABLE_TIME was found'
-MAIN_TIME="$(${STAT} "$(ls .dub/code/*-\$DFLAGS-*/dub_test_root.d)")"
+MAIN_TIME="$(${STAT} "$(ls $DUB_CODE_CACHE_PATH/*-\$DFLAGS-*/dub_test_root.d)")"
 [ -z "$MAIN_TIME" ] && die $LINENO 'no MAIN_TIME was found'
 
 DFLAGS="-g" ${DUB} test --compiler=${DC}
-MAIN_FILES_COUNT=$(ls .dub/code/*-\$DFLAGS-*/dub_test_root.d | wc -l)
+MAIN_FILES_COUNT=$(ls $DUB_CODE_CACHE_PATH/*-\$DFLAGS-*/dub_test_root.d | wc -l)
 
 [ $MAIN_FILES_COUNT -ne 1 ] && die $LINENO 'DUB generated more then one main file'
 [ "$EXECUTABLE_TIME" != "$(${STAT} cache-generated-test-config-test-library)" ] && die $LINENO 'The executable has been rebuilt'
-[ "$MAIN_TIME" != "$(${STAT} "$(ls .dub/code/*-\$DFLAGS-*/dub_test_root.d | head -n1)")" ] && die $LINENO 'The test main file has been rebuilt'
+[ "$MAIN_TIME" != "$(${STAT} "$(ls $DUB_CODE_CACHE_PATH/*-\$DFLAGS-*/dub_test_root.d | head -n1)")" ] && die $LINENO 'The test main file has been rebuilt'
 
 
 
-exit 0
\ No newline at end of file
+exit 0
diff --git a/test/issue97-targettype-none.sh b/test/issue97-targettype-none.sh
index 3ffe303..9017321 100755
--- a/test/issue97-targettype-none.sh
+++ b/test/issue97-targettype-none.sh
@@ -3,7 +3,26 @@
 
 ${DUB} build --root ${CURR_DIR}/issue97-targettype-none 2>&1 || true
 
+BUILD_CACHE_A="$HOME/.dub/cache/issue97-targettype-none/~master/+a/build/"
+BUILD_CACHE_B="$HOME/.dub/cache/issue97-targettype-none/~master/+b/build/"
+
+if [ ! -d $BUILD_CACHE_A ]; then
+    echo "Generated 'a' subpackage build artifact not found!" 1>&2
+    exit 1
+fi
+if [ ! -d $BUILD_CACHE_B ]; then
+    echo "Generated 'b' subpackage build artifact not found!" 1>&2
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+${DUB} clean --root ${CURR_DIR}/issue97-targettype-none 2>&1
+
 # make sure both sub-packages are cleaned
-OUTPUT=`${DUB} clean --root ${CURR_DIR}/issue97-targettype-none 2>&1`
-echo $OUTPUT | grep -c "Cleaning package at .*/issue97-targettype-none/a/" > /dev/null
-echo $OUTPUT | grep -c "Cleaning package at .*/issue97-targettype-none/b/" > /dev/null
+if [ -d $BUILD_CACHE_A ]; then
+    echo "Generated 'a' subpackage build artifact were not cleaned!" 1>&2
+    exit 1
+fi
+if [ -d $BUILD_CACHE_B ]; then
+    echo "Generated 'b' subpackage build artifact were not cleaned!" 1>&2
+    exit 1
+fi
diff --git a/test/removed-dub-obj.sh b/test/removed-dub-obj.sh
index 3686c61..8a168e2 100755
--- a/test/removed-dub-obj.sh
+++ b/test/removed-dub-obj.sh
@@ -2,14 +2,20 @@
 
 . $(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")/common.sh
 cd ${CURR_DIR}/removed-dub-obj
-rm -rf .dub
+
+DUB_CACHE_PATH="$HOME/.dub/cache/removed-dub-obj/"
+
+rm -rf $DUB_CACHE_PATH
 
 ${DUB} build --compiler=${DC}
 
-[ -d ".dub/obj" ] && die $LINENO '.dub/obj was found'
+[ -d "$DUB_CACHE_PATH/obj" ] && die $LINENO "$DUB_CACHE_PATH/obj was found"
 
 if [[ ${DC} == *"ldc"* ]]; then
-    [ -f .dub/build/library-*ldc*/obj/test.o* ] || die $LINENO '.dub/build/library-*ldc*/obj/test.o* was not found'
+    if [ ! -f $DUB_CACHE_PATH/~master/build/library-*ldc*/obj/test.o* ]; then
+        ls -lR $DUB_CACHE_PATH
+        die $LINENO '$DUB_CACHE_PATH/~master/build/library-*ldc*/obj/test.o* was not found'
+    fi
 fi
 
-exit 0
\ No newline at end of file
+exit 0