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[[File:GoogleDrive.jpg|right|thumb|Google Drive Crossing Amphitheatre Pkwy]]
[[File:GoogleDrive.jpg|right|thumb|Google Drive Crossing Amphitheatre Pkwy]]


The Googleplex is located between Charleston Road, Amphitheatre Parkway, and Shoreline Boulevard in north [[Mountain View, California]] close to the [[Shoreline Park, Mountain View|Shoreline Park]] [[wetlands]]. Employees living in San Francisco, the East Bay, or South Bay may take a free wifi-enabled Google shuttle to and from work. The shuttles are powered by a fuel blend of 95% petroleum diesel and 5% [[biodiesel]], and have the latest emissions reduction technology.<ref>{{cite web
The Penisplex is located between Charleston Road, Amphitheatre Parkway, and Shoreline Boulevard in north [[Mountain View, California]] close to the [[Shoreline Park, Mountain View|Shoreline Park]] [[wetlands]]. Employees living in San Francisco, the East Bay, or South Bay may take a free wifi-enabled Google shuttle to and from work. The shuttles are powered by a fuel blend of 95% petroleum diesel and 5% [[biodiesel]], and have the latest emissions reduction technology.<ref>{{cite web
| url= http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2004/09/worth-drive.html
| url= http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2004/09/worth-drive.html
| title= Worth the drive
| title= Worth the drive

Revision as of 20:10, 4 November 2013

This article is about the headquarters of Google. For the number googolplex, see Googolplex.
Googleplex
One of the entrance signs at the Googleplex
Map
Built1998
Location1600 Amphitheatre Parkway in Mountain View, Santa Clara County, California, United States
Address1600 Amphitheatre Parkway Mountain View, CA 94043

The Googleplex is the corporate headquarters complex of Google, Inc., located at 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway in Mountain View, Santa Clara County, California, United States, near San Jose.

The original complex with 2 million square feet of office space is the company's second largest square footage assemblage of Google buildings (#1 is the 2.9 million square foot 111 Eighth Avenue building in New York City which Google bought in 2010). Once the 1.1 million square foot Bay View addition comes on line in 2015 the Googleplex will be the biggest collection of Google buildings with 3.1 million square feet of space.[1]

"Googleplex" is a portmanteau of Google and complex and a reference to googolplex, the name given to the large number 10(10100), or 10googol.

Facilities and history

Aerial view of the Googleplex core buildings
Former entrance to lobby of Building 40
The south side of the Googleplex
Bicycle used[2] by employees on Googleplex

Original campus

SGI Campus

The four core buildings, totaling 47,038 square meters (506,310 sq ft), were built for and originally occupied by Silicon Graphics (SGI). The office space and corporate campus is located within a larger 26-acre (110,000 m2) site that contains Charleston Park, a 5-acre (20,000 m2) public park; improved access to Permanente Creek; and public roads that connect the corporate site to Shoreline Park and the Bay Trail. The project, launched in 1994 was built on the site of one of the few working farms in the area and was city owned at the time (identified as "Farmer's Field" in the planning documents),[3][4] was a creative collaboration between SGI, SWA Group of San Francisco, Sausalito, and the Planning and Community Development Agency of the City of Mountain View.[citation needed] The objective was to develop in complementary fashion the privately owned corporate headquarters and adjoining public greenspace. Key design decisions placed parking for nearly 2000 cars underground, enabling SWA to integrate the two open spaces with water features, shallow pools, fountains, pathways, plazas, and a gigantic statue of a dinosaur. The project was completed in 1997. The ASLA noted in 1999 that the SGI project was a significant departure from typical corporate campuses, challenging conventional thinking about private and public space.

STUDIOS Architecture was the executive architect for the original SGI campus, and provided both interior architecture and base building design.

Google campus

The former SGI facilities were leased by Google beginning in 2003.[5] A redesign of the interiors was completed by Clive Wilkinson Architects in 2005. In June 2006, Google purchased some of Silicon Graphics' properties, including the Googleplex, for $319 million.[6][7]

Since the buildings are of relatively low height, the complex sprawls out over a large area of land. The interior of the headquarters is furnished with items like shade lamps and giant rubber balls. The lobby contains a piano and a projection of current live Google search queries. Facilities include a gym (Building 40), free laundry rooms (Buildings 40, 42 & CL3), two small swimming pools, multiple sand volleyball courts, and eighteen cafeterias with diverse menus. Google has also installed replicas of SpaceShipOne and a dinosaur skeleton.[8][9]

Since 2007 the site has featured a series of solar panels covering the rooftops of eight buildings and two solar carports, and capable of producing 1.6 megawatts of electricity. At the time of installation Google believed it to be the largest in the United States among corporations. The panels provide the power needed for 30% of the peak electricity demand in their solar-powered buildings.[10]

Four 100kW Bloom Energy Servers were shipped to Google in July 2008, making Google the first customer of Bloom Energy.[11][12]

There is a giant green statue of the Android logo outside of Building 44 (1635 Charleston Road) on the Google campus (at 37°25′13″N 122°05′02″W / 37.420269°N 122.083949°W / 37.420269; -122.083949 which can be seen using Google Maps Satellite on 45° mode.) There are additional statues to represent all the versions of the Android operating system.

Bay View addition

In 2013 construction began on a new 1.1 million square foot headquarters campus dubbed "Bay View" adjoining the original campus on 42 acres leased from the NASA Ames Research Center and overlooking San Francisco Bay at Moffett Federal Airfield. The estimated cost of the project is $120 Million with a target opening date of 2015.[13][14][15][16]

NBBJ is the architect and this is the first time Google has designed its own buildings rather than moving into buildings occupied by previous businesses.[17]

The complex is off the northeast corner of the complex by the Stevens Creek Nature Study Area/Shoreline Park. Before announcing the construction Google through its in house real estate firm Planetary Ventures sought Mountain View permission to build bridges over the Stevens Creek.[18] Google's 2012 year end annual report noted it can develop only 7 acres of the 42-acre site.[19]

Location

Googleplex courtyard
Google Drive Crossing Amphitheatre Pkwy

The Penisplex is located between Charleston Road, Amphitheatre Parkway, and Shoreline Boulevard in north Mountain View, California close to the Shoreline Park wetlands. Employees living in San Francisco, the East Bay, or South Bay may take a free wifi-enabled Google shuttle to and from work. The shuttles are powered by a fuel blend of 95% petroleum diesel and 5% biodiesel, and have the latest emissions reduction technology.[20][21]

Neighbors of the Googleplex include Shoreline Amphitheatre to the north; Intuit to the northwest and Century Theatres, Microsoft Corporation's Silicon Valley research complex, and the Computer History Museum to the south. Moffett Field lies nearby to the east.

Other Google Mountain View locations

Google in its 2012 year end annual report said it had 3.5 million square feet of office space in Mountain View.[19]

Google has another large campus in Mountain View dubbed "The Quad" at 399 N Whisman Road about 3 miles from the Googleplex.[22]

In addition the secret Google X Lab which is the development lab for such items as Google Glass is located in "ordinary two-­story red-brick buildings " about a half mile from the Googleplex. It has "burbling fountain out front and rows of company-issued bikes, which employees use to shuttle to the main campus."[23]

Other uses of the word

"Googleplex" is also part of a title referring to a minor character from the 1979 book The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams, a powerful computer called the "Googleplex Star Thinker".

See also

References

  1. ^ Strickland, Jonathan (2008-08-04). "HowStuffWorks "Introduction to How the Googleplex Works"". Howstuffworks.com. Retrieved 2013-05-24.
  2. ^ Kelly, Caitlin (2012-04-28). "Google Course Asks Employees to Take a Deep Breath". The New York Times.
  3. ^ Mountain View, CA - Nicholas Perry - Google Books. Books.google.com. Retrieved 2013-06-15.
  4. ^ http://laserfiche.mountainview.gov/WebLink/DocView.aspx?id=14618&page=1&dbid=0
  5. ^ Olsen, Stefanie (2003-07-13). "Google's movin' on up with Sujeet Kumar and Manohar Patti". CNET News.com. CNET Networks, Inc. Archived from the original on 2012-12-05. Retrieved 2007-01-04.
  6. ^ Mills, Elinor (2006-06-14). "Google buying its Mountain View, Calif., property". CNET News.com. CNET Networks, Inc. Archived from the original on 2012-12-08. Retrieved 2007-01-04.
  7. ^ Conrad, Katherine (June 14, 2006). "Google to purchase Mountain View buildings". San Jose Mercury News. AccessMyLibrary. Retrieved 2009-11-07.
  8. ^ Weinberg, Nathan (2007-01-22). "Yes, Google Has The Dinosaur". google.blognewschannel.com. Retrieved 2007-01-23. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  9. ^ Mohney, Chris (2007-02-06). "25 things to see at the Googleplex before you die". Valleywag. Gawker Media. Retrieved 2009-08-08.
  10. ^ "Reducing our Footprint". Google. Retrieved 2010-09-30. In Mountain View, CA, for example, we currently have a 1.6 megawatt solar power system that generates 30% of the peak power necessary to fuel the buildings on which they are located.
  11. ^ NASA Technology Comes to Earth | Bloom Energy
  12. ^ Bloom Energy Revealed on 60 Minutes! : Greentech Media
  13. ^ http://www.nasa.gov/centers/ames/pdf/255793main_June.08.Agram.smallfile.pdf
  14. ^ "Google Starting Construction on New Campus - WSJ.com". Online.wsj.com. 2013-02-22. Retrieved 2013-05-24.
  15. ^ Goldberger, Paul. "Exclusive Preview: Google's New Built-from-Scratch Googleplex". Vanity Fair. Retrieved 2013-05-24.
  16. ^ "Googleplex: Google to build $120m futuristic HQ with a garden on the roof | Mail Online". Dailymail.co.uk. 2013-02-25. Retrieved 2013-05-24.
  17. ^ Russell, James S. (2013-04-24). "Google's New Campus Has Light, Fresh Air, Low Power Use". Bloomberg. Retrieved 2013-05-24.
  18. ^ http://laserfiche.mountainview.gov/WebLink/DocView.aspx?id=58291&&dbid=0
  19. ^ a b "Form 10-K". Sec.gov. Retrieved 2013-05-26.
  20. ^ Spivack, Cari (2004-09-13). "Worth the drive". Official Google Blog. Google, Inc. Retrieved 2007-01-04.
  21. ^ "Campus operations -- A closer look". Google, Inc. Retrieved 2012-06-15.
  22. ^ By Jolie O'Dell2011-05-17 20:17:36 UTC (2011-05-17). "Google To Open New Campus in Mountain View [PICS]". Mashable.com. Retrieved 2013-05-26.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  23. ^ Stone, Brad (2013-05-22). "Inside Google's Secret Lab". Businessweek. Retrieved 2013-05-26.
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