Google planning Silicon Valley campus, hardware lab

On Aug 24, 2021

Google is asking the city for feedback on its early plans to transform a Silicon Valley office site with “sustainability” features.

City of San Jose filings

Google is planning yet another Silicon Valley campus, which will sit adjacent to a new center partly devoted to hardware, according to preliminary plans obtained by CNBC.

Beginning in 2018, Google spent more than $389 million on land in north San Jose, Calif., and the company has since filed detailed preliminary proposals showing a sneak peak of its plans for the space. The plans, which are filed as an “R&D” facility, show a center for hardware operations and a separate new tech campus that would be accessible to the public, sitting between its current headquarters in Mountain View and its recently approved mega mixed-use campus in San Jose.

Dubbed “Midpoint,” the future tech campus will include five office buildings connected via a pedestrian bridge over a road. It will sit adjacent to three industrial buildings that will house some operations for its hardware division, including Nest products, according to several planning documents.

Hardware center

Google has filed plans for an “R&D” center that includes hundreds of updates to three industrial buildings. including meeting rooms, lounge areas, micro kitchens, equipment platforms, conveyor belts and a shipping warehouse, according to plans and permits viewed by CNBC. The plans mention “Google Hardware” and “Nest,” which refers to the company’s connected home business. These buildings will also house general supplies and store items like furniture for local campuses, according to a company spokesperson.

The new space comes as Google appears to be bringing more hardware efforts in-house under executive Rick Osterloh, who oversees devices and services, including Nest, the Google Home smart speakers, its flagship Pixel smartphone, and the PixelBook laptops. The hardware unit has produced minimal revenue for the company compared with its core internet services like Search, YouTube, and Google Cloud, but executives recently said it would be attempting to grab more market share this year.

Google is planning three industrial buildings that will house operations for teams including hardware and Nest.

Google announced arguably its most serious attempt at hardware this week when it said it will be ditching Qualcomm chips and creating its own, including those used for its flagship Pixel phone. It also has been using its own chips for its growing number of data centers across the country. In January, it completed the acquisition of fitness tracking hardware company Fitbit, which had been held up in regulatory review for more than a year.

One building in particular is getting a major overhaul. 20% of that building is designated for office space and 80% for manufacturing, storage, distribution, and other purposes, according to plans. The company has been planning the site since at least 2018, according to documents.

“New…