Google Reportedly Planning A New Silicon Valley Campus With A Hardware Centre

Google which has constantly been in the news is again in the news. According to verified reports, Google is plans another campus in Silicon Valley which will include a new centre for some of its hardware products.  Silicon Valley a region in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area in Northern California serves as a global centre for high technology and innovation that has blessed the world tremendously. Google has been buying up lands within this region spending more than $389 million on what preliminary plans show will include a research and development centre. The company has since filed detailed preliminary proposals showing a sneak peak of its plans for the space.

The campus, called Midpoint, will be located between Google’s current Mountain View headquarters and its mixed-use campus in San Jose. Midpoint will be a five office buildings connected by a pedestrian bridge, and will be adjacent to three industrial buildings that planning documents show will serve as a hub for its hardware division, including its Nest smart home products. The documents also show that Google has been planning the Midpoint site since 2018.

Google’s Hardware Chief, Rick Osterloh said Google is ready to start grabbing market share in the hardware space. Google’s decision of having more space dedicated to hardware makes a lot of sense given that its flagship phone have tiny market share compared to Apple and Samsung. Investing in resources that would enable it take up more market share is surely a great move in the right direction. The hardware unit has produced minimal revenue for the company compared with its core internet services like Search, YouTube, and Google Cloud.

Google has filed plans for an “R&D” centre that includes hundreds of updates to the three industrial buildings including meeting rooms, lounge areas, micro kitchens, equipment platforms, conveyor belts and a shipping warehouse. These buildings will also house general supplies and store items like furniture for local campuses, according to reports. Sitting beside the industrial centre would be the more traditional tech campus dubbed “Midpoint” that will accommodate about 3,500+ employees. According to reports, the campus will require landscaping and construction updates to existing offices as opposed to totally new development. The company did not give a timeframe for when Midpoint would be completed.

Vini Bhargava, a Project Executive on Google’s Real Estate and Workplace Services team says “The goal of the proposed project is to enhance pedestrian and bicycle safety and connectivity between the buildings and the surrounding community. Bhargava added that it wants to incorporate landscaping for “outdoor gathering and meeting areas to serve on-site employees.” To achieve this, she has proposed turning concrete parking lots into green, area that utilizes recycled water, she also proposed planting trees to act as natural cooling systems and shade. The proposed features aim to “enhance wildlife habitat and pollination opportunities,” and falls in line with the company’s shift to open itself up to its non-tech neighbours. The proposed upgrades also come as the company plans for more employees to work in offices as the post-pandemic era sets in.