Since 2016, Google has leased the seven-story, 750-foot-long hangar where, in 1943, Howard Hughes housed his all-wood-body Hercules IV airplane, the “Spruce Goose.”
The project team recreated this space into a four-story building within a building comprised of office, meeting, and event areas, as well as employee amenities, which unify the existing campus.
The hangar’s original 75-foot-high glulam arches and wood sidings were preserved and exposed to the interior. Twenty thousand three-foot-long, half-inch-diameter screws secure the arches and wood structure. The all-wood spine that supports the ceiling was deconstructed and rebuilt with noncombustible materials that were reclad with refurbished wood panels.
The project’s complexity included running six miles of conduit underground around 1,500 piles.
To promote user engagement, the main circulation on each level was formed into a zigzag, bridging the spine and two sides of the hangar. A “boardwalk” connects the interior structure from the ground floor to the third level.
HONORABLE MENTION
BUILDING TEAM ZGF Architects (submitting firm, architect) Google (owner/developer) Arup (SE, MEP) MATT Construction (GC, CM) DETAILS 450,000 sf Total cost Confidential Construction time August 2016 to July 2018 Delivery method CM at risk
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