Google's Futuristic New Campus Approved; Construction To Begin Soon

SILICON VALLEY, CA -- Move over, Apple: another new, state-of-the-art campus is coming to Silicon Valley. On March 7, the City of Mountain View voted unanimously to approve Google's new campus, dubbed the Charleston East project.

Charleston East represents the first time Google has had the opportunity to design and develop campus buildings from the ground up. The final design, according to Google, embodies the vision of both it and the City of Mountain View. The 18-acre undeveloped site has been leased by Google for years.

Among the planned components:

• 595,000 square feet of office space, plus 10,000 square feet for inner-building publicly accessible areas;
• 20 unique indoor courtyards, each designed with installations inspired by the site’s surrounding biomes of foothills, salt ponds, ocean and redwoods;
• Energy-generating Solar panels covering the entire roof;
• A canopy design with clerestories that would enable electric lights to be turned off during most daylight hours for the upper floor desk level.

The site would also include 10,000 square feet of retail, cafes and public amenities, meaning that during the day, the public would be able to walk through the middle of the building.

Construction is expected to begin by mid-2017, with competition expected by the end of 2019.
Google's Cupertino-based rival, Apple Inc., is in the process of completing construction of the Apple Park, a 175-acre spaceship-like campus that's expected to open for employee usage in April.

Images courtesy of Google