Google’s brand-new campus, built from the ground up in Silicon Valley, was designed in collaboration with BIG, Heatherwick Studio, and Google’s own design and engineering teams. This innovative park aims to pioneer people-centric office spaces for the future while setting new sustainability benchmarks for construction and workplace environments worldwide. The project is targeting carbon-neutral operations by 2030.
To achieve this, the design incorporates North America’s most widely used geothermal pile system, ensuring zero water loss and a positive impact on water resources. Additionally, the site includes a significant natural area spanning approximately 68,796 square meters, featuring diverse ecosystems such as wet lawns, forests, and wetlands.
The Google Bayview Park campus comprises three buildings, covering a total area of approximately 169,968 square meters, and is situated close to NASA Ames Research Center. This extensive complex offers 80,937 square meters of flexible open space designed to foster collaboration and adaptability.
Beyond two office buildings, the park includes an activity center with a capacity for 1,000 people and short-term residential units accommodating 240 employees. Although the campus consists of three distinct buildings, they are unified under lightweight canopy structures, creating a cohesive visual identity. The geometric design of each building enhances the influx of natural diffuse light and offers rich external views throughout the spaces.
From the outset, the design focused on three core themes: innovation, nature, and community. The interior spaces are thoughtfully designed to be flexible and user-friendly, supporting both collaboration and focused work. The buildings are limited to two floors: the second floor primarily houses desktop office and team areas, while the first floor is dedicated to gathering spaces and support facilities.
The second-floor slabs are organized into “neighborhoods,” allowing teams to customize their space based on specific needs.
Indoor courtyards are strategically placed throughout the open spaces, connecting both floors and creating distinct gathering areas for relaxation. These spaces provide easy access to cafés, small kitchens, and meeting rooms. The design thoughtfully bridges employees’ physical activities with their mental transitions between different work modes by defining unique characteristics for each floor.
The expansive canopy features a “dragon scale” solar panel roof clad with 50,000 panels, capable of generating nearly 7 megawatts of energy. This opaque roof also provides acoustic control while allowing sufficient natural light through its openings, minimizing glare. The solar panel design optimizes thermal performance by reducing heat gain within the buildings.
“The all-new Bayview Park is the pinnacle of a remarkable collaborative design process. Working with data-driven clients like Google, every design choice is backed by rigorous information and empirical analysis. The result is a park crowned with a striking solar-powered dragon scale roof that captures every photon touching the building, alongside an energy pile system underground that stores and extracts heat and cool air. The natural flora comprises resilient root gardens that continuously filter and purify water resources. In short, this park integrates every detail—technology, materials, form, and function—into a stunning new hybrid.” — Bjarke Ingels, Founder and Creative Director of BIG
The Google Bayview campus operates entirely on electricity and incorporates extensive geothermal pile systems, projected to reduce carbon emissions by nearly 50% and decrease cooling water consumption by 90%. The buildings are equipped with on-site rainwater and sewage collection, treatment, and reuse systems, while the site’s biological habitats are restored to help mitigate sea level rise.
Google Bayview Park is anticipated to achieve LEED Platinum certification for new and expanded buildings. It also aims to become the largest facility to receive the International Living Future Institute’s Living Building Challenge (LBC) Water Petal certification.
Project Information
Name: Google New Bay View Office Park Area
Location: Silicon Valley, USA
Year Completed: 2022
Partners:
BIG Bjarke Ingels Group, Heatherwick Studio (Architectural Design)
Sares Regis (Developer)
Adamson (Executive Architecture)
STUDIOS (Interior Architecture)
Populous (Event Venue Consultant)
Thornton Tomasetti (Structural Engineering)
Integral Group (Mechanical, Fire Protection, Water Supply and Drainage Engineering)
Olin (Landscape Design)
ARUP (Acoustic Consultant and Curtain Wall Engineering)
BKF (Civil Engineering), Sherwood (Water Engineering)
Holmes (Fire and Life Safety)
Kleinfelder (Geotechnical Engineering)
Loisos+Ubbelohde (Sunlight Consultant)
FMS (Floodlight Consultant)
C. S. Caulkins Co (Accessibility and Maintenance)
Teecom (Telecommunications)
Whiting Turner (General Contractor)
Applied Wayfinding (Identification and Wayfinding Design)
A10 (Sustainable Design and LEED Consultant)
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