The circus is headed to Mountain View, Calif.! Or, at least that’s what it looks like, as the newly released design plans for Google’s new Charleston East campus show a building with the appearance of a giant futuristic circus tent. However, despite the color of Google’s logo, don’t expect to see this building filled with clowns or acrobats, as the building will incorporate many state-of-the-art features to provide the most efficient workplace possible.
Back in February 2015, Google released its initial plans for the project, but this past February saw them update and alter those plans. The most visible difference between the plans is the loss of a translucent canopy that was meant to regulate climate, air quality, and sound while enclosing flexible building segments that had the ability to be moved around both inside and outside of the enclosure. For any of you thinking to yourself, Simpsons did it! Simpsons did it! Yes, the design looked a little bit like when The Simpsons Movie put a glass dome over the entirety of Springfield.
The canopy is still in place and it is still designed with the purpose of regulating indoor climate, air quality, and sound, but the plans now call for it to be opaque. The building components are still labeled as "flexible" and are designed to be adaptable to Google’s changing needs, but they seem to have lost at least some of their originally planned mobility.
Photovoltaic panels will be incorporated over much of the canopy’s surface to generate as much electricity from renewable resources as possible. The actual amount of electricity that would be generated is still being studied.
In another effort to help decrease electricity consumption, the structure uses smile-shaped clerestories that span two sides of each 102-foot bay to bring direct, indirect, and diffused natural light into the building. The way the building is designed and laid out makes it so even the centers of the lower level floor plans are able to receive natural light. Google is still experimenting with different glazing strategies and technologies to control and scatter direct sunlight in order to minimize glare.
The building is designed with nature in mind and the landscape strategies of the building aim to nurture and restore native ecologies of the North Bayshore area. Google is working with local ecological consultants and wildlife experts in an effort to help wildlife species on the site to thrive. Not much has been overlooked, as bird safety has even been integrated into the design. The building plans call for bird-friendly design elements to help eliminate any birds flying into windows or other areas using clear glass or disturbing migration patterns with light pollution. Some of these design elements are fine-grained visual obstacles in the vertical envelope glass coatings that reduce reflection, limited light pollution at night, and carefully placed vegetation.
The overall design concept is driven by five guiding principles to provide the highest quality work environment possible and represent a vision for the workplace of the future. These design principles are:
- Beauty and simplicity
- Flexible and hackable spaces
- Ecology and access to nature
- Efficiency of resources and materials
- Health and environmental quality
Google is hoping these guiding principles will help them achieve LEED Platinum certification.
While the new building lost its visionary clear canopy made, the new plans still present an innovative, modern design that blends in with the surrounding ecosystems and landscape instead of standing in stark contrast to them. And, who knows, maybe Cirque du Soleil will get mixed up and think the building is their tent one day, leading to some very good lunchtime entertainment. However, the company is still in the early stages of planning this structure and there is still plenty of work that needs to be done before any type of construction begins.
Google chose Bjarke Ingels Group and Heatherwick Studio as design consultants for the project, Adamson Associates as the architect of record, Arup as the structural/MEP engineer, and Hargreaves Jones Landscape Architecture as the landscape consultant.
The plans can be viewed in their entirety on the City of Mountain view website.
The original plans called for a translucent canopy to cover the majority of the campus. This has been changed in subsequent plans. Renderings courtesy Google
Related Stories
| Nov 10, 2014
5 guiding principles for solving airflow issues in open-plenum office spaces
Although architecturally appealing, exposed ceilings can create unwanted drafts and airflow problems if not engineered correctly. McGuire Engineers' Bill Stangeland offers tips for avoiding airflow issues on these projects.
| Nov 6, 2014
Hines planning tall wood office building in Minneapolis
The Houston-based developer is planning a seven-story wood-framed office building in Minneapolis’ North Loop that will respect the neighborhood’s historic warehouse district look.
| Nov 5, 2014
Survey: More than 75% of workload takes place without face-to-face interactions
With the rise of technology, much of the workday—even the most productive morning hours—is spent corresponding via email or conference call, according to a recent survey of corporate workers by Mancini•Duffy.
| Nov 4, 2014
HOK breaks ground on colossal research complex for LG in Seoul
Located in Seoul’s Magok District, the LG Science Park provides facilities to support innovative research and industrial prototyping. HOK designed phase one of the master plan and six of the laboratory and office buildings.
| Nov 3, 2014
Cairo's ultra-green mixed-use development will be topped with flowing solar canopy
The solar canopy will shade green rooftop terraces and sky villas atop the nine-story structure.
| Oct 30, 2014
New hotel to be developed at future Dallas Cowboys World Headquarters
The Omni property will be one of the only full-service upscale hotels in the area, and serve as a cornerstone of the mixed-use development, which will be anchored by the Dallas Cowboys World Headquarters and Frisco’s Multi-Use Event Center.
| Oct 29, 2014
Better guidance for appraising green buildings is steadily emerging
The Appraisal Foundation is striving to improve appraisers’ understanding of green valuation.
| Oct 27, 2014
Davis, Calif., latest city to join race to develop 'innovation hubs'
The city plans to develop two "innovation centers" with a total of seven million sf of commercial space geared for local research and technology companies.
| Oct 24, 2014
Work in the City: Urban Diversificaton
As work and the other aspects of our lives blend, lifestyle becomes the primary lens through which all facets come into focus. In this light, individuals are taking more ownership of their own life and work choices.
| Oct 24, 2014
Herzog & de Meuron reveals plans for redesign of Roche pharmaceutical campus in Germany
The project includes the addition of a 205-meter-high tower and research center, as well as the renovation of an historic office building designed by Swiss architect Otto R. Salvisber.
