Lenovo Canada opens new 37,000-square-foot headquarters in Markham, York Region

After a decade in Toronto, Lenovo has selected Markham, Ont. as the home of its new Canadian head office. The 37,000-square foot facility brings together existing Lenovo staff, plus those from the recently acquired Motorola Mobility and IBM System X groups.

Stefan Bockhop, channel sales director, said that Lenovo Canada had to almost triple its floor space after the two acquisitions to fit all staff under one roof. It opted for a single storey open concept building that was renovated to provide a state-of-the-art facility. It includes a data centre with 1 megawatt of power, a server lab that can replicate any customer environment to assist with proof of concept exercises, and full showcase capability for customer demos. It includes flexible use space, including a colourful area known internally as the Mad Men lounge, as well as standard workstations. Skylights provide natural light, and have automatically controlled shades to regulate heat and glare.

Markham mayor Frank Scarpitti said, “We’re excited that Lenovo chose Markham as its Canadian headquarters. Markham is a place where technology can thrive. “

“The facility is more a statement of culture,” said Colin McIsaac, managing director of Lenovo Canada. “There are three organizations merged, committed to the same goals.” He sees the new building, with the Lenovo name front and centre, as a way to announce the company to the Canadian market; the previous space was on the 18^th floor of an office building, so was much less visible. He also plans to mount signage on a tower facing nearby Highway 404.

With the acquisitions of Motorola Mobility and System X, he said, the company will be able to plug the server business into its PC partner base. “It’s a strategic move,” he said. “It opens another growth opportunity.” It also provides the ability to offer higher value services to clients, with the help of partners. He has three technical field specialists on staff on the client side; the System X group adds 23 to the server business.

Charity also benefited from the celebration. After employee participation in a recent build, Lenovo took advantage of its grand opening celebration to present a cheque for $40,000 to Habitat for Humanity GTA, and to announce a further $2 donation for each entrant in an upcoming Twitter contest.