Last week, Google submitted plans to the Mountain View, Calif., City Council to redevelop four of its office sites in the city with an extraordinary design concept by the team of Bjarke Ingels at BIG and Thomas Heatherwick at Heatherwick Studio that merges moveable buildings with nature, integrates translucent canopies laced with solar panels and will radically reduced the company’s energy footprint. The exact details of the building designs were not yet revealed, but you can be sure they will be loaded with the most energy-efficient electrical systems on the planet. In an announcement posted on the Google Official Blog, the company said in part:
“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. (Our self-driving car team, for example, has very different needs when it comes to office space from our Search engineers.) 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.
“Of course, this project is about much more than just office space; it’s about doing more with the local community as well. So we’re adding lots of bike paths and retail opportunities, like restaurants, for local businesses. We also hope to bring new life to the unique local environment, from enhancing burrowing owl habitats to widening creek beds. And we’re committed to do everything we can to save energy—our recent agreement to offset our energy consumption in North Bayshore with renewable energy includes the development of this proposal.”
The following gallery of images of the project renderings from the Google+ site are fascinating. This video offers more insight into the project.
Photo Credits: All photos courtesy of Google
