Modern midcentury designs with history, surprises
A 1963 Chevrolet K20 pickup truck and a new Chevrolet Silverado EV stand in front of General Motors’ new world headquarters in Detroit on January 6, 2026.
Michael Wayland | CNBC
DETROIT – Outside General Engines‘s new world headquarters, two red Chevrolet pickup trucks sit between the 12-story building and the city’s first new skyscraper in more than 30 years.
One is a 1963 Chevrolet K20. The other is a new Silverado EV. While the trucks may be part of a temporary holiday display, they symbolize what’s inside the Detroit automaker’s new global offices: past and present, woven together.
GM occupies four of the building’s six office floors and has filled them with artifacts, design touches and “Easter eggs” tied to the Detroit automaker’s history.
These range from a sketch of GM’s iconic design dome and an early map of nearby proving grounds to an interior wallpaper of 300 patented technologies and a decorative cassette tape wall featuring songs featuring the automaker’s trademarks as well as playful references to executive stalwarts like CEO Mary Barra and Chairman Mark Reuss.
One of the centerpiece objects of GM’s new headquarters is the McCormick Speed Form, an aerodynamic wind tunnel model developed at Warren Technical Center.
Courtesy: GM
“Leadership asked when we helped design the space that would bring in some Easter eggs and details that represent who we are at GM, honoring our culture, history and innovation,” Rebecca Waldmeir, GM director of industrial design architecture and experience, told CNBC while touring the new headquarters.
Other surprises include references to relevant Detroit streets, design influences from GM’s famous design campus in suburban Detroit, and artwork and sculptures of its products.
Besides aesthetics, GM officials say the new offices will aid collaboration and be more relevant to how the company expects its employees to work in a post-pandemic world. It will house executive offices and other corporate functions such as marketing, legal and finance.
“A headquarters should really be a beacon for company culture at some level,” said David Massaron, GM’s vice president of infrastructure and corporate citizenship. “When you come here, you have to help people understand who we want to be.”
A wall inside GM’s new Detroit headquarters features special cassette cases featuring songs referencing the automaker’s brands and vehicles, as well as GM executives such as CEO Mary Barra and Chairman Mark Reuss.
Michael Wayland | CNBC
From castle to functionality
The new headquarters marks a significant reduction in square footage for the automaker’s corporate office; from a high-rise complex on the city’s riverfront called the Renaissance Center to just four floors of about 200,000 square feet in the new building.
GM’s new headquarters is located less than a mile from the RenCen, which ironically has been a symbol of the city ever since. Ford Motor built the complex but decided not to make it headquarters in the 1970s. GM purchased the building, entirely located in the Motor City, in 1996 as its third headquarters.
RenCen is Detroit’s stronghold; It is a 5.6 million square meter complex, complete with a central tower of more than 700 meters, surrounded by four 500-meter towers and two smaller adjacent towers.
GM’s new headquarters in downtown Hudson’s Detroit area.
Courtesy: GM
The complex is known to be extremely difficult to enter and exit and navigate. For most of its existence, it was surrounded by concrete barriers before being redesigned at the turn of the millennium.
This has long been a physical permutation of GM’s historically siled culture, and Barra has made changing it a priority during his nearly 11-year tenure as CEO.
“RenCen was designed in a different era, a pre-Covid era where everyone went to work five days a week, everyone went to their desk,” Massaron said. “Especially in a post-pandemic world, you need an office space that people want to come to because we have options.”
GM’s approximately 50,000 U.S. salaried employees are currently required to work in the office Tuesday through Thursday, but the rules are more flexible than before regarding location and remote work.
Renaissance Center (complex of skyscrapers with Chevrolet sign) on the banks of the Detroit River.
Roberto Machado Noa | Light Rocket | Getty Images
Massaron said most of the company’s new executive offices on the top floor of the building will be available for executives to use at will. Only four of the offices will be permanently assigned to top GM executives like Barra and Reuss, he said.
GM declined to say how many employees are expected to work regularly at the new headquarters, saying foot traffic will fluctuate depending on priorities and workflows. The company also declined to disclose financial details of its 15-year lease at the new headquarters.
The building complex known as Hudson’s Detroit is owned by a real estate company. Rocket Companies Chairman and billionaire Dan Gilbert, who has been buying and renovating properties in Detroit for more than a decade.
showroom, pickle
In addition to office spaces and an executive floor, all overlooking an open atrium, GM also plans to open a semi-public space on the building’s first floor to showcase products and host events.
Other amenities include social gathering areas and lounges, food and beverage services, a pickleball court and recreation area.
A common area outside the executive offices of GM’s new headquarters in downtown Detroit.
Michael Wayland | CNBC
GM’s new headquarters under construction comes months after Ford’s christening A new 2.1 million-square-foot global headquarters and product design and development center in nearby Dearborn, Michigan.
Ford’s new facility includes offices, design and industrial operations, and a host of amenities such as 160,000 square feet of food court with eight “kitchen concepts,” multiple atriums, and other improvements.
The notable difference between the size of GM’s and Ford’s new headquarters comes down to location, number of employees and the automakers’ portfolios of offices and operations across the region.
A pickleball court and seating area inside the building that also includes GM’s new headquarters in Detroit.
Michael Wayland | CNBC
GM, for example, has a large technology and design center covering 710 acres in nearby Warren, Michigan. This campus is home to more than 24,000 employees.
Massaron said GM didn’t feel the need to create a “city within a city” for its new headquarters because it was essentially a “building within a city.”
Here’s a look inside GM’s new world headquarters:
The entrance to the executive floor inside GM’s new global headquarters in Detroit.
Michael Wayland | CNBC
The administrative corridor of GM’s new headquarters in Detroit.
Courtesy: GM
It’s one of about a dozen executive offices inside GM’s new headquarters in downtown Detroit.
Michael Wayland | CNBC
It’s one of about a dozen executive offices inside GM’s new headquarters in downtown Detroit.
Michael Wayland | CNBC
The interior design is inspired by Eero Saarinen’s iconic GM Global Technical Centre, where gold metallic finishes, wood feature walls, warm recessed lighting and clean linear geometries blend with subtle curves.
Courtesy: GM
Patent wall graphics highlight 300 of the more than 49,000 patents granted since the company’s founding in 1911.
Courtesy: GM
A wall of cassette tapes celebrates GM’s broad cultural influence, nodding to more than 78,000 songs that reference GM brands and vehicles.
Courtesy: GM
A model of the Chevrolet Corvette CX concept hangs on the wall outside the boardroom of GM’s new headquarters.
Courtesy: GM
The boardroom inside GM’s new headquarters in Detroit.
Courtesy: GM
Inside the common atrium area of GM’s new headquarters in Detroit.
Michael Wayland | CNBC
A coffee shop and café within the atrium area of GM’s new headquarters in Detroit.
Michael Wayland | CNBC
A common lounge area near the courtyard of the building housing GM’s new headquarters in Detroit.
Michael Wayland | CNBC
Three-dimensional sound wave art profiles feature engine and EV tones from notable GM vehicles in the performance, EV and ICE categories, transforming acoustic engineering into a sculptural expression.
Courtesy: GM
A statue of GM’s “Cadillac Goddess” sits on a desk on the executive floor of its new headquarters in Detroit.
Michael Wayland | CNBC
