Nina Zipkin
Staff Writer. Covers media, tech, startups, culture and workplace trends.
On a beautiful spring or summer day, have you ever looked longingly out the window, buffeted by the chill of industrial strength AC and squinting against the fluorescent lights and thought, “We should have class outside?”
Well, for the denizens of Amazon’s new campus, which is currently in the works in downtown Seattle, that will be a reality that will be built into their everyday routines. At least they get free bananas while they wait.
Related: Amazon, Now Worth 2 Walmarts, Is Donating Half of Its New Building to a Homeless Shelter
In addition to three giant office towers, one of which is already completed, three biospheres with plants and waterfalls are currently in the works, there will also be a preponderance of outdoor spaces including parks and paths for biking and walking.
Take a look inside Amazon’s outdoorsy new space.
Between the three spheres and three office towers, the company will hold a total of 10 million square feet of office space in Seattle when the new campus is finally completed. In total, the company paid more than $259 million for the land the new campus will sit on.
It’s fitting that Amazon, with ubiquitous recommendation algorithms, would have its new campus designed via algorithm. According to architecture firm NBBJ, “Design computation helped to generate the spheres, each a pentagonal hexecontahedron formed by tessellating a pentagon across its surface. Algorithms enabled the team to quickly generate a steel-and-glass structure that could be constructed efficiently and cost-effectively.”
On the lower floors of the first completed office tower, named Doppler, there is a self-serve grocery store called Market Place. Other options on various floors include grills for impromptu barbeques, sandwiches and Asian cuisine.
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