Google to redevelop headquarters

Internet giant Google has submitted plans for the redevelopment of its headquarters in Mountain View, California, US. It says it wants to redevelop four existing office sites with premises it will design and build from scratch. It is the first time the company will have done this, and it has developed plans with architects Bjarke Ingels of BIG and Thomas Heatherwick of Heatherwick Studio.

The company says that rather than creating permanent structures, it will build lightweight, moveable buildings which will be more flexible. “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),” said a company statement.

The architectural design will feature large translucent canopies over each site. The wider campus will include trees, landscaping, cafes, shops and bike paths, and Google said it would also work to improve the habitat for local wildlife.

Its statement added, “We chose Mountain View for our headquarters 15 years ago because we love the beauty of the bay, the close proximity to great universities, the family-friendly environment and the chance to work in a city at the heart of Silicon Valley. Today, we want to create office spaces that don’t just provide a great home for Google, but which also work for the city that has given us so much.”