Take a peek inside Motorola's swanky new headquarters

Motorola unveiled its new headquarters in downtown Chicago. It’s a symbolic move for the company that was started in Chicago 90 years back as Galvin Manufacturing Corporation.

“Now our story has come full circle. We believe that there’s no better place to stay at the forefront of innovation than in a thriving global hub like Chicago - a city that has become the epicenter of a technology renaissance,” says Motorola’s blog post.

Let’s take a virtual tour of the company's new headquarters.

…

Located inside the historic Merchandise Mart alongside the Chicago River, the new headquarters encompasses more than 600,000 square feet, including 75,000 square feet of dedicated lab space, making it one of the premiere R&D and prototyping facilities in the world.

…

The office is home to nearly 2,000 'Motorolans' and is within a mile of 71 of the top 100 digital companies in Chicago.

…

At the Mart, the company’s neighbours include the tech start-up incubator 1871, advertising and creative agencies and more, creating opportunities for chance encounters and collaboration.

…

The office pays homage to our Chicago roots while also reflecting a thoroughly modern approach to collaboration.

…

In addition to the best-in-class engineering labs, the space also features nine micro-kitchens designed in different themes, shared workspaces, a game room for when a little recharging is needed, a rooftop plaza and more.

…

The move to downtown Chicago has been more than a year in the making.

…

A break room with Chicago’s “L” train map used as information display.

..

“As we look ahead to the future, we have a clear vision for our company and we’re proud to be back in sweet home Chicago. A truly global city for a global company,” says the company blog post

…

Around 1,300 engineers have already moved into the new offices.

...

Here’s a typical work space in Motorola’s new home.

...

Google had acquired Motorola in 2011 for $12.5 billion and in January this year sold the company to Chinese personal computer maker Lenovo for $2.91 billion.

Google will retain the Advanced Technologies and Projects unit (which will be reintegrated into the main Android team) and all but 2000 of the company's patents.

…

Designed by the architecture firm Gensler, the headquarters include both modern design and natural touches such as wooden stairs.

…

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and local community and business leaders attended the opening ceremony of the headquarters.

…

For Motorola, this was a homecoming. The company was in Chicago downtown until 1976. The company then moved the headquarters to the suburbs, where it stayed for nearly forty years.