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Architects: SPACE
- Area: 600 m²
- Year: 2013
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Photographs:Eric Velazquez Torres
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Manufacturers: Trespa, Novotech, Tektil
Text description provided by the architects. As one of the leading web browser companies, google needed to grow in the building they were. The design concept is really simple…the city of Mexico.
When you enter the reception you find this really white space, with a bright colored logo, that lets you in into two different spaces. One, the techtalk, a big auditorium for multiple uses. Here the focus of design is the Mexico city google map carpet, which captures you eye the moment you step in.
The other door let you into Mexico city. First you see Chapultepec, an informal meeting space with swings, a lake and a very big tree. Then you see that the carpet is actually a street that takes you everywhere. You can take an actual refurbished cab and have a phone conversation, or you can take the subway, that holds all the technical rooms in the office.
You can continue your journey either south, and find workstations and Xochimilco, where you can have a videoconference inside a Trajinera, which is a traditional Mexican boat; or you can go north, and enter Teatro Blanquita, a big meeting space where Google Hangouts happen.
Food and catering is really important for the company to give to their employees, so you can find a deli in the middle of the space where you can either eat or meet. There are also several amenities such as gym, showers and massage areas to keep the employees happy. Color and lighting design worked together to really enhanced the look, the productivity and the result.
Designed to have little impact in the environment, this offices follow really strict green guidelines such as low VOC´s materials, green carpeting, certified wood, and recycle bins. This offices got LEED Gold Certified.
Google works totally different as the majority of companies, and because this is a young company with most employees being gen-Xers we decided to give a fun yet functional ambiance, or as they call it “frugal space”.
OPERATION / FLOW / INTERACTION:
The space is like entering mexico city, you find a park in the middle where you can have informal meetings, or just play in the swings and the pond. Then you find the café just beside the public transportation examples: the metro and a taxi cab that you can use to have videoconferences or phonecalls. You go south to find the open space of the city, where the people work. And a Xochimilco style Trajinera that is actually a formal meeting room. To the other side you find a huge meeting space with a google map as the carpet .And finally You can enter Teatro Blanquita, the space where google hangouts take place. Please enjoy and live Mexico City.
RESEARCH ABSTRACT:
Possibly the most important challenge in the design process of a new space is the ability to align space and business. This alignment requires specific methodologies to identify the goals and objectives of an organization and generate a diagnostic of how space can be a tool in the pursuit of success. Space has developed a unique methodology that is designed to generate this strategic alignment. The Discovery session brings together the heads of the organization and using two diagnostic card games are determined on one hand the most important concepts related organization: Economic Value Attraction and retention Organizational Culture Corporate Identity The second set of cards is called brandspAce, it focuses on determining the emotional profile of the organization. In a world that increasingly generate experiences about a brand becomes a determining factor, define what emotions represent the organization is essential. As a result of this phase space given a diagnosis on what document will have a series of recommendations that can be used later in the design and development of the project.
CHALLENGE:
The most challenging part of designing this office was to gain the Leed Gold certification, and follow the very restrictive green requirements that Google have. They follow their own guidelines which are great for the environment, but kid of difficult to achieve here in Mexico. The result was fantastic though!
PROFILE:
Google is an American multinational corporation specializing in Internet-related services and products. These include search, cloud computing, software, and online advertising technologies. Most of its profits are derived from AdWords.
