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When Samsung came to Silicon Valley in 1983, it was in a nondescript, ii-story, dark-brown building. This week, on the same site, it unveiled a massive new country-of-the-fine art, 10-story US headquarters for its Device Solutions businesses (memory, storage systems, displays, and semiconductors). As part of its k opening, we got to bout the facility, speak with the architects about the project, and have plenty of photos to share with you.

View of Samsung HQ from the parking structure

Before you even get out the parking structure, you realize that the new building is designed to be a showpiece as much as a work-a-day part edifice. The lawns (all watered with recycled h2o) provide a welcome relief from the mostly cobblestone environs of the industrial section of North San Jose where the facility is located.

The very angular outside of the construction also belies the flowing curves found within the new ane.1 million square-foot, LEED-certified structure.

The Samsung courtyard is all curves -- and you can also see the garden floors from here

The large interior courtyard is not only gorgeous, but is deliberately designed to meliorate collaboration. Looking out or across from ane of the open up-air garden floors, employees are more likely to run into others that they might not otherwise run across. Architects NBBJ ran simulations of diverse building designs using avatars, to come up with one that would maximize employee interactions — working to deliver on ane of Samsung's cadre values of collaboration.

I share their enthusiasm for the idea, but with mid-day low-cal creating dark shadows, I'yard non sure how many employees will recognize each other from beyond the courtyard.

Views abound from every floor

The building features stunning views from near every floor. At x stories, it dwarfs all the other nearby structures, giving information technology an unbroken line of sight to the mountains on both sides of Silicon Valley. Samsung is correct that this is definitely a plus in terms of quality of work environment, compared with many of the "tilt-up" structures that populate nigh of Silicon Valley.

The edifice is currently dwelling house to nearly 700 Samsung employees, only tin can accommodate as many as 2,000.

Just a few of the many exercise machines at Samsung HQ

As befits a modern workplace, the building has a conditioning facility with only about every practise machine imaginable. The view tin't be vanquish either, as the unabridged facility is bundled effectually the outside of ane of the open floors.

An open floor plan with half-height cubes

Not anybody loves open up floor plans, but they have become much more popular (again) in loftier-tech. At that place is no question they facilitate collaboration compared with walled offices. Of grade, companies like them because they are much more flexible. I other advantage is that everyone gets bang-up views, since they aren't cutting off by walls.

Samsung has as well provided some ii-story open areas like the i pictured, with internal staircases. That also is designed to help in casual collaboration, as are the many lounge and work areas scattered throughout the building. I was disappointed to see that the work areas had only traditional-sized whiteboards. I innovation I've seen and used very effectively is whiteboard walls.

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No tech tour would exist consummate without a lab visit. Here we got to see Samsung'southward Enterprise Exam lab –where storage devices are run in a variety of vendor systems before release — along with a preview of its 16TB SSD and the exam system with their new 1 1000000 IOPS solid-land storage device. Notice that even the test machines become a great view!

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I of the pattern goals of the new building is to facilitate collaboration between floors. So, sandwiched betwixt each pair of regular work floors (on the 5th and 8th floors) is what Samsung calls a garden floor. They feature actual gardens, and enough of open walking infinite on both the N and Due south tower sides, likewise as crossings betwixt them.

The building features a small convenience store for employees

Samsung hasn't quite gone all out in embracing the "y'all can have annihilation you desire" gratis-food-and-drinkable civilization of Google and Facebook. Snacks and sundries are for auction in a minor convenience store. Employees practise get i free meal a day in the cafeteria, and the rest are subsidized 50%.

The Chill Zone is Samsung's fancy name for the employee lounge

No longer do high-tech employees accept to head off to a bar to play puddle or Foosball. Similar many companies, Samsung provides a broad variety of leisure activities on site. This is peculiarly important in areas like North Starting time Street in San Jose, which are definitely non pedestrian-friendly, and where at that place aren't many nutrient or recreation alternatives close by.

The lounge even features sleep pods, whatever they are.

No more napping under your desk-bound. Samsung has installed "sleep pods" for those times when y'all just can't stay awake while waiting for your simulation to cease or the sun to come up up. Our host didn't know quite how they worked, but they are correct next to the Foosball tables, so I hope the glass is really soundproof.

Electric vehicle charging is almost a given at new corporate sites in Silicon Valley

As you lot'd expect, in that location is an extensive set of charging stations for electrical vehicles — helpfully labelled "clean air vehicle." The facility is also near San Jose's Lite Rail, which is a good affair, because traffic at rush hour is pretty terrible effectually at that place.

Eclipse put on a show for the ribbon cutting

The highlight of an otherwise run-of-the-manufactory ribbon cut anniversary was a performance by music-and-trip the light fantastic troupe Eclipse. Samsung may be in the press a lot recently for financial problems, simply you lot wouldn't take known it from the new headquarters building or the grand opening celebration. Conspicuously the troupe customized their performance, as hither in the terminal scene they accept Samsung's motto projected on the big screen behind them.

View from one of the garden floors at Samsung's new HQ

The architects at NBBJ did an excellent chore of combining inwards-looking views that could characteristic the gardens, lawns, and trees that Samsung has added to the site with external vistas off into the mountains. Since the building itself is surrounded mostly past not very bonny industrial structures, this was an especially-challenging task. I exercise wonder how the feel of the edifice will change if other corporations showtime putting up as-tall buildings nearby.

This view is back from 1 of the garden floors to the cafeteria building and parking structure.