Images have been unveiled of BIG and Heatherwick Studio’s design for Google’s Mountain View headquarters. The plan, submitted to city council today, proposes to redevelop and expand the company’s home office with a series of lightweight canopy-like structures organized within a flexible landscape of bicycle paths and commercial opportunities for local companies.
"It's the first time we'll design and build offices from scratch and we hope these plans by Bjarke Ingels at BIG and Thomas Heatherwick at Heatherwick Studio will lead to a better way of working,” says Google. “The idea is simple. Instead of constructing immoveable concrete buildings, we’ll create lightweight block-like structures which can be moved around easily as we invest in new product areas… Large translucent canopies will cover each site, controlling the climate inside yet letting in light and air. With trees, landscaping, cafes, and bike paths weaving through these structures, we aim to blur the distinction between our buildings and nature.”
A video about the design and a statement from Bjarke Ingels and Thomas Heatherwick, after the break.
Commenting on the project, Bjarke Ingels stated: “Silicon Valley has been an engine of innovation driving technological evolution and global economy. So far the majority of these vast intellectual and economical resources have been confined to the digital realm – Google North Bayshore expands this innovative spirit into the physical realm. Together with Heatherwick Studio and Google we have set out to imagine the work environments of future Googlers to be as adaptable, flexible and intelligent as the rest of Google's wide spanning portfolio – rather than an insular corporate headquarter, Google North Bayshore will be a vibrant new neighborhood of Mountain View.”
New bike paths and retail space have been integrated throughout the masterplan, providing opportunities for locals, while the enhancement of burrowing owl habitats and the widening creek beds promise to “bring new life” to the city’s unique landscape.
“This is an opportunity to not only create a new home for the world's most innovative company, but also to make a vibrant piece of town at the same time as protecting and enhancing the local natural habitat,” says Thomas Heatherwick, founder and principle of Heatherwick Studio. “Bringing the design team together from Heatherwick Studio and BIG means we’ve developed even more exciting solutions that neither would have arrived at alone and we look forward to making them a reality.”
In terms of energy, Google declares they will do everything possible to reduce their demands through renewable energy.
