<img height="1" width="1" style="display:none" src="https://www.facebook.com/tr?id=192888919167017&amp;ev=PageView&amp;noscript=1">
Monday, March 18, 2024
March 18, 2024

Linkedin Pinterest

Google of the Future

High-tech giant envisions 'vibrant new neighborhood' for headquarters, architect says

The Columbian
Published:
3 Photos
The entry lobby of the proposed Landings building at the new Google campus in Mountain View, Calif.
The entry lobby of the proposed Landings building at the new Google campus in Mountain View, Calif. Photo Gallery

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — Tech giant Google on Friday morning dropped off reams of paperwork at Mountain View City Hall detailing the company’s whimsical plans to expand its corporate headquarters.

Drawings of the plans show a series of translucent, biosphere-like canopies over the city’s North Bayshore office district between San Francisco Bay and Highway 101.

“Instead of constructing immoveable concrete buildings, we’ll create lightweight blocklike structures which can be moved around easily as we invest in new product areas,” the company said in a statement. “Large translucent canopies will cover each site, controlling the climate inside yet letting in light and air.”

Hundreds of pages containing the full details of the plans are not yet publicly available, but several city officials shown the renderings said they were impressed.

“Rather than an insular corporate headquarters, Google North Bayshore will be a vibrant new neighborhood of Mountain View,” said Danish architect Bjarke Ingels, who was commissioned to design the project along with London’s Thomas Heatherwick, in a written statement Friday.

But local residents are likely to raise concerns about traffic congestion and how the massive development could reshape the small city’s suburban way of life.

Google’s plans appear to absorb nearly all of the land in the North Bayshore technology district that the city has allowed for new office development, raising concerns about what room will be left for everyone else.

Friday was the deadline for developers to submit plans for projects that could take up a larger footprint than what the city allows. Among the other companies wanting to build new campus buildings are social network LinkedIn, which is headquartered nearby.

“Is it really good to be a one-company town?” asked former City Councilwoman Margaret Abe-Koga, who was termed out last year after eight years in office. “It’s important to keep diversity in our communities, and that includes companies. I think Google’s plans alone will take up much of the land we allow for the precise plan.”

Abe-Koga said city officials have struggled over the years with accommodating Google, which owns 83 separate parcels of land and employs about 15,000 people in the city, most of whom commute from elsewhere.

“Early on, they came out very aggressive and, frankly, we had to say no to some things,” she said. “They’re learning to be more cooperative, but they have a pretty clear direction. They want to do things their way.”

Loading...