Look inside Samsung’s New Silicon Valley Headquarters

Samsung Electronics Inc. is expanding its footprint in Silicon Valley, home to many of the South Korean tech giant’s closest partners – and some of its fiercest competitors. The company is almost finished with a new $300 million facility in San Jose, Calif., a giant 10-story complex with 1.1 million square feet of floor space, including a clean room for semiconductors and a “fitness center in the sky”.
The facility, which will be split between semiconductor research and development and other sales and marketing functions, will be Samsung’s biggest and most prominent building in Silicon Valley, and the North America headquarters for its semiconductor operations.
NBBJ, the architecture firm behind the project, says that work at the site is about 85% complete, with most of the remaining tasks related to interiors and landscaping. A spokeswoman for Samsung declined to say how many employees the project, which cost $300 million to develop, will accommodate.

The building features stunning views from nearly every floor. At ten stories, it dwarfs all the other nearby structures, giving it an unbroken line of sight to the mountains on both sides of Silicon Valley. Samsung is right that this is definitely a plus in terms of quality of work environment, compared with many of the “tilt-up” structures that populate most of Silicon Valley.

 

 

As befits a modern workplace, the building has a workout facility with just about every exercise machine imaginable. The view can’t be beat either, as the entire facility is arranged around the outside of one of the open floors.

Gov. Jerry Brown of California said that the facility will "place at least 2,500 people in high-skill, high-wage jobs," and it features a open-air design that places gardens on almost every floor. The site will feature sports facilities, cafes, and "collaboration zones," and will cover 1.1 million square feet in total. According to Inhabitat, the white steel and clear glass construction is designed to reduce solar heat gain and boost natural light.
The center will be headed by Samsung's chief strategy officer, Young John, who has spoken before about the company's need to out-innovate its competitors in certain areas. Work is set to start this July, and is expected to take around two years.