Google’s New Bjarke Ingels– and Thomas Heatherwick–Designed HQ Shows the Future of Office Spaces

There’s a lot of talk in Silicon Valley and across the country about the future of workplaces in the wake of COVID-19. While coaxing employees who’ve yet to return to the office is one thing, a massive new project from Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG), Heatherwick Studios, and Google offers a glimpse at what the carbon-free future of work could look like. This week, Google unveiled the three buildings that comprise their new Bay View campus, spanning 1.1 million square feet of space at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley. Designed with ideas of innovation, nature, and community in mind, the end result is a uniquely open space capable of furthering Google’s ambition to operate entirely on carbon-free energy for 24 hours a day, seven days a week by 2030.

The first key to Bay View’s energy efficiency is a canopied roof that’s more reminiscent of a modern airport terminal than your traditional office space. Consisting of a proprietary “dragonscale” design, the roof consists of 50,000 solar panels that can cumulatively generate almost seven megawatts. In addition to generating energy of its own, the roof also minimizes thermal heat gain and reduces overall energy loads.

Far from a high-rise, Bay View’s workspace consists of only two floors that add up to 20 acres of open space. The upper level is a vast array of individual desks and “team spaces” (think enclosed conference rooms), with each square foot enjoying outside views and natural daylight while minimizing dreaded monitor glare thanks to well-placed clerestory windows between the roof’s canopy bays. This work area is connected via indoor “courtyards” to the lower level, which features kitchenettes, cafés, and open areas with enough space for your typical all-hands meeting.

Though the canopy superstructure is the project’s most visible element of green design, energy-minimizing sustainability is embedded into the foundation of Bay View. That’s thanks to what is now North America’s largest geothermal pile system, which will heat and cool the workspace. That facilitates a projected 50% reduction in carbon emissions, while also saving an estimated 5 million gallons of water that would otherwise be used for cooling purposes each year. And speaking of saving water, Bay View makes use of on-site recycled water for all of its non-potable needs, part of an effort to replenish a full 120% of the water the facility consumes by 2030.