Google Gradient Canopy | BIG | Bjarke Ingels Group (2024)

Google Gradient Canopy

MOUNTAIN VIEW, UNITED STATES

2023

Situated on an 18-acre site in the North Bayshore area of Mountain View and adjacent to Charleston Park, Google’s Gradient Canopyincludes workspace for Googlers and 10,000 sq ftof space open to the public, comprising restaurant, retail and community event spaces. The campus also features the Google Visitor Experience – a new destination for Google employees, visitors and neighbors.

The site has achieved LEED-NC v4 Platinum certification – taking the title from Bay View as being the largest LEED v4 BD+C: NC Platinum-certified project in the world – and is also one of the largest facilities ever to attain the International Living Future Institute (ILFI) Living Building Challenge (LBC) Materials Petal Certification.

On the exterior, the Gradient Canopy building features the same “dragonscale” solar skin roof as Google Bay View, equipped with silver solar panels that use the latest building integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) technology and generate approximately 40% of the building’s annual energy use.Coupled with the canopy’s pavilion-like rooflines, the panels capture the power of the sun from multiple angles. Unlike a flat roof, which generates peak power at the same time each day, the dragonscale solar skin generates power for an extended amount of daylight hours.

Like Bay View, Gradient Canopy’s 120-ft canopy rests on cruciform beams. Rather than being segmented by excessive columns and support walls, the structural innovation of the canopy roof allows for a hangar-like typology with a wide-open and connected workspace. Access to natural light and views with reduced glare during working hours were priority design elements, achieved through the use of carefully placed clerestory windows.

Designed from the inside out, the Gradient Canopy building begins with the Googler. By providing glare-free light, fresh filtered air, natural materials, biophilic elements and soothing acoustics, the architecture of Gradient Canopy ensures a happy and productive Googler. The wood-clad interiors of the building are entirely procured from responsibly managed forests certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and are supported by a steel frame.

The Gradient Canopy building is split across only two floors, with desks and team spaces on the upper level and the amenity spaces below. A variation in floorplates on the upper level offers highly flexible “neighborhoods” for teams, with desks clustered into groups that can be either enclosed within studios using flexible partitions or left open for break-out spaces and other teams. A series of twenty indoor “courtyards” throughout the building connect the two levels, giving teams easy access to cafes, kitchenettes, conference rooms and all-hands spaces. The courtyards also encourage physical movement when circulating between levels and different modes of work, and double as wayfinding devices.

The Gradient Canopy site design and native landscaping provide critical support for wildlife and builds resilience in the landscape. Across the 18-acre site, four acres of which are vegetated, landscape designs mimic natural habitats native to the region yet largely gone from Silicon Valley today. The landscape palette consists primarily of native species, including 380 native trees, while over 90% of the plants at Gradient Canopy provide nectar for native pollinators.

During the construction of Gradient Canopy, an onsite waste management process diverted over 90% of construction waste from landfills, while a closed-loop wallboard initiative meant that 530,000 pounds of drywall waste was recycled. Thousands of materials used at the campus went through a rigorous sourcing and review process using the LBC Red List as a framework to minimize chemicals harmful to human and environmental health.

To promote a circular economy, Gradient Canopy’s design incorporates salvaged materials and 100% FSC-certified timber. Today, a bioretention area captures and filters stormwater and urban runoff that are reused onsite.

Anchored in three themes defined by Google’s design brief – innovation, nature and community – Gradient Canopy provides an opportunity to take human-centered, sustainable design to a new scale. Together, Google, BIG and Heatherwick have created a campus that fosters community and creates a healthy, inclusive space that benefits everyone.

The public plaza in Charleston Park, which will be programmed with public events throughout the year, such as farmers markets, food trucks and live music, connects to the interior community spaces on the west side of Gradient Canopy. The plaza welcomes the public to the Google Visitor Experience and new food and retail outlets, like the West Coast’s first ever Google Store and a year-round neighborhood partnership center.

A casual spot for day-to-day interactions, this neighborhood center hosts a pop-up shop and a range of events and workshops to highlight local small businesses and community organizations. The space offers an inclusive settingfor dialogue and learning while serving as a social node for Gradient Canopy and the broader North Bayshore neighborhood.

A pedestrian and bicycle path, part of the larger North Bayshore Green Loop, weaves around the southern portion of the site for Googlers, neighbors and visitors to enjoy the site’s native landscaping, public art and exterior gathering spaces.

Bjarke IngelsThomas ChristoffersenDaniel SundlinBeat SchenkLeon RostBlake SmithJason WuCorliss NgDavid IseriFlorencia KratsmanGuillaume EvainJan LeenknegtLinus SaavedraVeronica AcostaMelissa JonesPatrick HylandPauline Lavie-LuongRita SioRyan HarveyRyan DuvalSebastian ClaussnitzerShane DalkeShu ZhaoTerrence ChewXi ZhangZhonghan HuangZiad ShehabDeb CampbellDylan HamesFrancesca PortesineAaron MarkAlice CladetAnton BashkaevArmen MenendianAthena MorellaBarbara StalloneBernard PengCheyne OwensChristi FarrellCristian Lera SilvaDanielle KembleDouglass AlligoodFilip MilovanovicGabriel Hernandez SolanoGabriella Den ElzenGaurav SardanaHelen Shuyang ChenJennifer DudgeonJennifer KimuraJennifer WoodJohn HilmesJonathan FournierJoshua BurnsJoshua PlourdeKiley Anne FeickertLina BondarenkoLudwig EbertMahsa MalekManon OttoMeghan BeanMirco AmstadMo ZhouOmer HadarPablo Costa FraizPantea TehraniPatricia Correa VelasquezPeter KwakSimon DavidTaylor FultonValentina MeleVincenzo PolsinelliBenjamin CaldwellDong-Joo KimHacken LiJonathan PanLuke LuSebastian GrogaardAshley O'Neill

COLLABORATORS

Heatherwick Studio
Adamson
Arup
CCI
EWCG
FMS
Mott MacDonald
Hathaway Dinwiddie
HJLA
HLW
Hortscience
H.T. Harvey Associates
Iris environmental
Kleinfelder
Loisos + Ubbelohde
Sera
Sherwood
Vital
AKT II
Front
Atelier Ten
Devcon
T.S. Krumholz