Inside Google’s huge and unique new ‘stronghold’ in Silicon Valley

Office buildings in Silicon Valley tend to make other office buildings look surprisingly small and dingy. And Google’s newest campus in Mountain View, California is an example of such beauty and neatness.

The company has officially opened its massive Bay View campus, a project that has been under construction since 2017. This is also the first large campus that Google has developed on its own and it certainly surpassed all of them. previous office buildings. In a blog post, David Radcliffe, vice president of real estate and workplace services at Google, said the new campus was built with the goal of prioritizing “the people’s experience in the building over appearance.” outside”.

Besides being human-centered, the building takes the concept of an eco-friendly building to a new level.

Google has long been known for creating a big buzz with its impressive office designs and unique office culture. And its new Bay View campus is no different, even taking this perspective to the next level. It has a common area of ​​170,000 square meters, including 81,000 square meters of open space. According to Google, the main Bay View complex is 102,200 square meters and includes two office buildings, a 1,000-person event center, and 240 “employee short-term accommodation units.” This is another way of calling Google versions of “hotel rooms”.

If you look at Bay View’s 2nd floor interior photos from above, you can think of a miniature city made of Lego. In fact, Google refers to this workplace as having “residential zones” for each group, connected by courtyards. Essentially, the second floor is designed for highly focused, team-oriented employees while providing both physical and mixed workspaces.

Meanwhile, the first floor of Bay View is made up of gathering spaces. It has meeting rooms and cafes that allow Google employees to “connect with their communities and collaborate with each other,” the company explains.

Google says that Bay View opened its doors to employees in May, and the company has gradually brought people back. The campus can accommodate up to 4,000 employees and will host the Google Ads team, the company’s main cash-flow generator.

Not offering the same experience as in concrete office buildings with few or no windows, people inside Google’s Bay View campus will be able to enjoy “natural daylight and outdoor views.” from every desk”. However, that doesn’t mean every desk will be near a window. Google says it will use wooden windows, or rows of windows above eye level, with automatic window panes to illuminate the desk throughout the day.

Besides natural light, Google employees will also enjoy fresh air outside the workplace thanks to Bay View’s ventilation system. The system uses 100% outside air and only circulates one way.

Some of Bay View’s most notable features are its use of “Dragonscale” solar panels, which Google says are the first of its kind. The panels are designed in a prismatic shape with a unique coating that can be put together like a tile. They are distinguished by their ability to “trap” escaping light and reduce reflected glare.

Asim Tahir, Google’s renewable and regional leader, explained that Bay View’s Dragonscale solar panels will prevent the building from putting additional pressure on energy demand in the evenings after the sun dive.

Because the panels, together with the unique pavilion-style roofline design, can capture solar energy from many angles and will be able to generate power for a long period of time throughout the day.

According to Tahir, Bay View will have up to 7 megawatts of renewable energy, which could power about 40% of the entire campus’ energy needs. And Google’s upcoming Charleston East campus, which is in the final stages of construction, will have the same energy capacity.

Overall, Bay View’s solar panels and nearby wind farms will allow the campus to be powered with renewable energy up to 90% of the time.

Besides, Google has also implemented an impressive water management system at this campus. It is what the company calls “net-water-positive,” meaning that all non-potable water on site is provided using recycled water that is generated and collected by the campus itself.

Google explains that they manage this with aboveground ponds on the premises to collect rainwater. In addition, Bay View itself also has an advanced wastewater treatment system. Along with that, the ponds and wastewater treatment systems also provide water for cooling towers, toilets and landscape irrigation.

And to further protect the environment, Google has made its new Bay View campus fully electric. Each of the seven cafes here, served by two kitchens, use electricity instead of gas.

Bay View seems to offer a glimmer of hope that large corporations like Google can make changes to the way their offices operate.

However, this is still only a small campus in the overall operation of the whole corporation. Google does not disclose how much it costs to build Bay View, but this is one of 20 key projects in the US that Google will invest about $ 9.5 billion this year. So without a doubt, it is very expensive.

Refer Gizmodo