Futuristic Google Campus Gets Green Light In Mountain View
MOUNTAIN VIEW (KPIX 5) – Not to be outdone by Apple's "Spaceship" campus, Google has received approval to build its own futuristic-looking headquarters in Mountain View.
"Charleston East" is the name of Google's proposed new dome-shaped office complex. From a distance, the wavy scalloped canopy design includes solar panels tiled into the roof and skylight windows.
Google's plan is to build it along North Bayshore in Mountain View. Nothing quite like this has ever been built.
"It came about because we really started designing from the inside out," John Igoe of Google told KPIX 5. "We wanted to find out how we could get a space to be very, very flexible and that wouldn't have a lot of walls and the typical type of restrictions you have."
The Mountain View city council met Tuesday to decide whether to greenlight the building, which would be 595,000 square feet and 110 feet high.
About a dozen people lined up to speak their minds about the project. Not a single voice was against it, including Cliff Chambers with the Mountain View Coalition for sustainable planning.
"Traffic is the number one concern, and to their credit, Google addressed it in a very proactive way," Chambers said.
The design calls for an emphasis on walking, biking and busing employees to work. Cars are deemphasized and environmentalists were consulted.
The campus would be open to the public by way of a path that cuts right through the building.
Google has famously leased buildings in the Silicon Valley for years ... this would be their first time constructing one from scratch.
The city council unanimously approved the project.
Construction is expected to begin next month. Google said it should take about two years to build.
