Tech ·return to office

See Google’s futuristic new 1.1 million square-foot Bay View campus

BYBeth Kowitt and Alex Scimecca
The new Bay View campus incorporates greenery, natural daylight, and views outside. Clerestory windows allow light onto desks with automated window shades that open and close over the course of the day.
Courtesy of Iwan Baan

On Tuesday, Google officially opens its long-awaited Bay View campus in Mountain View, Calif. The 1.1 million square-foot, four-building complex is the company’s first-ever, ground-up large-scale development project.

“This is taking everything we’ve learned over the past 20 years and doing something ourselves,” says David Radcliffe, Google’s vice president of real estate and workplace services.

The Bay View complex is in part a symbol of Google’s ongoing commitment to the physical office, even as its workers move to a hybrid schedule with three days a week in the office and two at home. The company has said it will invest $9.5 billion in offices and data centers in 2022 alone.

Entrance to Google's Bay View campus.
The Bay View campus was designed by architects Bjarke Ingels Group and Heatherwick Studio, along with Google’s design and engineering teams.
Photograph by Winni Wintermeyer
Exterior view of Google's Bay View campus.
Bay View is powered in part by a first-of-its-kind dragonscale solar skin made of 90,000 silver solar panels. It is expected to generates 40% of the campus’s annual electricity.
Photograph by Winni Wintermeyer
An open space collaborative lounge in Google's Bay View campus.
The lower level includes a host of open gathering spaces and is intended for collaborative work.
Photograph by Winni Wintermeyer
Artwork from local artists depict scenes of Bay Area ecology.
Photograph by Winni Wintermeyer
The campus’s ventilation system uses 100% outside air.
Photograph by Winni Wintermeyer
Bay View is 100% electric, an effort to decrease carbon emissions.
Photograph by Winni Wintermeyer
In addition to collaborative and community areas, the campus includes phone rooms and other private spaces.
Photograph by Winni Wintermeyer
Massage chairs and meditation rooms are intended to help employees reset during the work day.
Photograph by Winni Wintermeyer
Google says it vetted thousands of building products and materials using the Living Building Challenge Red List.
Photograph by Winni Wintermeyer

Sign up for the Fortune Features email list so you don’t miss our biggest features, exclusive interviews, and investigations.

Read More

Artificial IntelligenceCryptocurrencyMetaverseCybersecurityTech Forward