Google To Build New 'Green' Office Designed By Ingenhoven Architects

Google may soon outgrow its own massive Googleplex headquarters, located in Mountain View, California.

The company plans to hire 6,200 more workers in 2011, and rumor has it that new Googlers will commute to a custom-made "green" office, built just for Google.

According to the Mercury News, the company has leased an additional 9.4 acres from Mountain View at a price of $30 million and is planning to build new office space.

The new location is said to be along Shoreline Boulevard, bordering the existing Googleplex. This new addition would increase the size of the Mountain View complex to 600,000 square feet.

German firm Ingenhoven Architects, renowned for their large-scale environmentally-friendly projects and unique aesthetics, will reportedly design Google's new structure.

"We've asked them to build the most green, sustainable building possible," a spokesman for Google told Mercury News.

Google has previously occupied existing office spaces but has never contracted a space of its very own.

You can read more about the project at the Mercury News.

Comments

[hxjp]

12:55 PM on 05/11/2011

i'd love to be in on the garden, from the soil's perspective, to teach how to do it as organically as possible. great weather, not so great gardens in that area- parking lots, 101 air quality, 50's choices for trees, and oh yeah acres of lawn, that have all contributed to the destruction of the soil structure. hope the "designers" design away from so much surface, and visit the local arboretum in santa cruz, or two great nurseries, the dry garden or flora grubb, to get great plant ideas that would do away with the lawn idea for good. so much great stuff available from suncrest and monterey bay nurseries that would knock the socks off the employees and the city dwellers.
the cottage company in seattle designed over 36 cottages that get the rain water from roof through beautiful garden to cistern for later use- that would also be a fabu idea- we need to relearn how to reuse rain water for our loooong summer here. i hope they check out the urban farmer to garner great irrigation ideas- we don't need to pour on the water onto landscape, at the expense of growing food.

[Kamereon]

01:21 PM on 05/10/2011

Really wish Google would lead the pack away from California. Build in Colorado, or New Mexico, or someplace midwest. Why continue to pay $30M for overpriced land?

[CharlottesvilleVA]

08:36 AM on 05/11/2011

Location, location, location. Can't beat the Bay Area climate with a stick.

[powder chowder]

12:57 PM on 05/10/2011

that's cool. Would love to work for a company like that.

[dkinton49]

01:16 AM on 05/10/2011

This means they will get some b |_| llsh\t building. They should build a well built structure, properly situated to the sun, then super-insulate it and use solar power for water heating and install hi-efficiency HVAC. Anything beyond that is a waste of time and money. Why not more energy efficient computing!

[MikeyJaii]

11:05 PM on 05/09/2011

More jobs?

[John Mainstream]

07:04 PM on 05/09/2011

Just PR. Google should focus on something important, like reducing power consumption at server farms.

[jsgaetano]

11:27 PM on 05/10/2011

Google and Microsoft are already doing more work in that area than anyone else.

[Linda Weiler]

06:36 PM on 05/09/2011

ok

[Ragnar Danneskjold]

03:48 PM on 05/09/2011

Well maybe that will offset the billions of searches a day that probably emit more GHG than running Boston for a year.

On a similar note, this will make the leftists so happy while Google continues to practice the corporate cronyism they love to blast Republicans for. So typical and useless. I bet the psf on this building exceeds $700 a foot. Totally infeasable unless you have money to burn and a government that let's you get away with violating people's privacy.

[doubleB]

04:19 PM on 05/09/2011

Even $700 / sf would be a great investment, if you ask me. The longer we wait to start building this stuff, the higher the prices will stay. Economies and development will bring it down. And Google, being a first mover, will have their own little lab to develop the green side of their business.

[Y3rMawm]

05:06 PM on 05/09/2011

Lets? I think they encourage privacy violations. They are counting on the proles to volunteer information about themselves.

[javajava]

03:15 PM on 05/09/2011

good.

[paxatman]

03:10 PM on 05/09/2011

Google moves forward.

[-DC-]

02:29 PM on 05/09/2011

Some day Google will go bust. No company, especially one based on internet services needs that much personnel. Think of Yahoo, IT bubble. Despite the fact that Google has (currently) a revenue logic that works like a moneymaker, unlike FB and twitter...

[doubleB]

04:17 PM on 05/09/2011

Their investment in the green economy will pay dividends. If they ever face a downturn, similar to Yahoo, they've got something to fall back on. Even if they don't, it might make sense for them to make the green side of their business their main focus when it takes off. Those are a buncha smart mofo's out there.

[FoamingAtTheMouthLiberal]

05:33 PM on 05/09/2011

Tell me about it! the internet is just a fad anyways. Personally I can't wait until this all blows over and we can get back to mailing letters and waiting for the Sears catalog to shop for christmas gifts!

[NYCannibal]

02:20 PM on 05/09/2011

Are they going to keep those Bloom boxes they presently use, or are they gonna use the wind energy from offshore generators and barter the product to their location?

[jsgaetano]

11:34 PM on 05/10/2011

Bloom boxes are just batteries.  You charge them up during off peak hours, meaning you pay less money during peak hours.