architect: BIG

location: Sunnyvale, California

year: 2018

Google unveiled its plans for a striking new development in Sunnyvale’s Moffett Park, where thousands of the company’s employees could work in more than 1 million square feet of offices.

image by BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group

Designed by BIG, the project consists in a 1.04 million square foot two-building, called Caribbean, that would be large enough to accommodate 4,500 Google workers. “The proposed project aligns with the city of Sunnyvale’s goals to maximize Moffett Park development with headquarters, office, and research-development facilities,” says Joe Van Belleghem, Google’s senior director of construction and design in the Bay Area. Conceptual images of the buildings reveal striking designs for both structures, featuring long inclines that would allow Google employees to walk, ride bicycles and even roller blade to any level of the buildings.

image by BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group

The offices, in the renderings, appear to embrace a connection to nearby streets so members of the public could potentially access open spaces in front of the buildings. However, the complex would not be filled with Googlers until 2021 at the earliest, the company emphasized. Mountain View-based Google has bought enough sites that housing, along with offices, could become part of the development mix that Google contemplates for Sunnyvale’s Moffett Park area. Housing is part of our thought process in Moffett Park,” says Golan Mark, chief operating officer of Google’s global real estate investments & development units. “A new mixed-use community where you have live-work capabilities, makes a lot of sense. Housing and transportation are two huge issues for the Valley overall, and they are huge issues for Google. One of the best ways to address this is by creating mixed-use communities that allow people to live close to where they work, which allows for a vibrant community and also helps the transportation.“

image by BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group

Sunnyvale is just one facet of Google’s Silicon Valley expansion plans. The company has also been buying and leasing buildings and property, and sketching out development plans near its Googleplex headquarters in northern Mountain View.