Dezeen Magazine

Sunnyvale Campus by BIG and Google

BIG and Google team up for terraced offices in Sunnyvale

Architecture firm BIG is working on yet another project for Google, this time a pair of offices blocks with ramping roofs in Sunnyvale, California.

Bjarke Ingels Group – which is also working with Heatherwick Studio on the Google HQ in neighbouring Mountain View and the company's main offices in London – has now designed two five-storey buildings for the tech giant in West Caribbean Drive.

Measuring 505,078 and 537,000 square feet (47,000 and 50,000 square metres), the two structures will sit side by side, and feature pathways that zigzag up their inclined roofs.

These pedestrian routes will climb up alongside green spaces, offering access points at various levels and allowing cafe spaces to spill outdoors.

Sunnyvale Campus by BIG and Google

Glazed walls will fill the gaps between the slopes, and cover the remaining facades. Clive Wilkinson Architects has been chosen to design the interiors, while Olin will be responsible for the landscape architecture.

The two buildings are intended for general office use for around 4,500 Google employees, supplementing the creative spaces at the new headquarters, also in Silicon Valley.

The Sunnyvale site, to be known as Caribbean, will include separate central utility plants and 2,085 parking spaces, split between a garage and surface parking.

However, Google said it is committed to "reducing cars on the road by prioritising biking, shuttles, public transportation and more".

Sunnyvale Campus by BIG and Google

The company expects to move in employees around 2021, and also has plans to build housing on the campus.

Meanwhile, the huge canopied structures designed by BIG and Heatherwick Studio for the Mountain View campus are moving forward.

The team had to downsize its ambitious original plans, after fellow tech company Linkedin was given the land originally earmarked for the project.

Sunnyvale Campus by BIG and Google

A new design for "Google 2.0" on a smaller site was approved in March 2017, and the structures are set to be built by robots.

BIG and Heatherwick also submitted the planning application for Google's new London campus in June 2017, which will house up to 7,000 employees in the King's Cross area.

As well as its buildings for Google, BIG – which has offices in Copenhagen and New York – is working on a variety of projects across the US. They include a chequerboard-covered stadium in Austin, a kindergarten for WeWork in New York City and a huge mixed-use scheme in Los Angeles.