GM Advanced Design to construct new California campus
A new design facility in California will act as a centre for GM’s development of innovative mobility programmes that sit outside the traditional car sphere
General Motors has invested over $71 million in a new campus in Pasadena, California. As a result, its existing facility in North Hollywood will close, but not until the second half of 2022.
Measuring 149,000 sq ft in size, the new campus will be a hub for the development of technologies to help reduce emissions, crashes and congestion. It is also located closer to ArtCenter College of Design, so GM hopes to attract graduates and budding designers.
“Having a physical presence in Southern California’s technology epicentre is an integral part of our global design operations and this new innovation campus will not only expand our operations twofold but offers access to the rich cultural diversity and talent in the region,” said Michael Simcoe, GM’s vice president of global design. “Our positioning will allow us to attract dynamic candidates in fields that will bolster GM’s proven design capabilities and challenge conventional thinking of what our future portfolio of connected products and services can encompass.”
One of the main focuses of the team at the new centre will be on developing concepts and future mobility projects that fall outside the scope of existing production vehicle programmes. GM has already showcased various ideas in this space, such as the single-passenger Cadillac vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) drone.
The news comes in the latest of a string of investments by GM in its design footprint. Work is underway on the construction of a new design facility at the company’s Global Technical Center in Warran, Michigan. Furthermore, GM Advanced Design China recently gave us exclusive access inside its new studio in Shanghai during Car Design Dialogues Asia 2021.