The first campus built by Google | Bay View and Charleston East

Summary

The video script discusses the innovative design and construction of Google's Charleston East and Bay View campuses, emphasizing a people-first approach. It focuses on sustainability, with features like the largest geothermal pile system in North America, rainwater capture, and a commitment to regenerative design. The building is designed to adapt to future work styles, with a mix of collaborative and quiet spaces, and integrates with nature, aiming to be a living, working laboratory that connects with people's emotions.

Takeaways

• 🏢 The future of office buildings is uncertain, with evolving concepts of work and space.
• 🌿 Charleston East and Bay View are pioneering projects that rethink the traditional office building design.
• 🤔 The unique shape of the buildings challenges preconceived notions of workspaces, promoting new ways of working.
• 💡 A people-first approach is central to the design, focusing on health, comfort, and community.
• 🌞 Natural light, thermal, visual, and acoustic comfort are prioritized for every occupant.
• 🍽️ The ground floor is designed as a communal market with meeting rooms and cafes for interaction and collaboration.
• 🔍 Physical and virtual collaboration spaces are integrated to adapt to the new hybrid work model.
• 🌱 Sustainability is a core value, with the project being the largest to pursue the Living Building Challenge.
• 💧 Water conservation and geothermal systems are utilized for a regenerative and eco-friendly design.
• 👥 A diverse group of partners and experts collaborate to innovate and push the boundaries of construction.
• 🔧 The construction process involves full-scale mockups before finalizing the design to ensure innovation.
• 🌟 The building is designed to be a living, evolving entity, adaptable to change and responsive to its occupants' needs.

Q & A

What is the main theme of the discussion about the future of work?

The main theme is the uncertainty of how work will evolve in the coming years and the opportunity to rethink the concept of office buildings and the industry.

What is unique about the Charleston East and Bay View campuses?

These campuses represent the first time the company led the concept and construction of its own major campuses, allowing for a rethinking of what an office building is.

How does the new office building challenge traditional preconceptions of workspaces?

The building's unique shape leads people to question what it is, thus eliminating preconceptions of how to work based on historical office designs.

What aspects of the building design prioritize people?

The design prioritizes people by using healthy materials, ensuring natural light, and providing thermal, visual, and acoustic comfort.

What is the purpose of the bottom level of the building?

The bottom level serves as a market with meeting rooms, cafes, and community spaces for collaboration.

How does the building support both physical and virtual collaboration?

The building is designed to facilitate physical collaboration in team spaces while also enhancing virtual collaboration.

What is the significance of the building's design in terms of sustainability?

The building's design is people-first, leading to sustainability, and it's the largest project to pursue the Living Building Challenge.

How does the building contribute to the natural landscape?

The building is designed to integrate into the natural landscape, capturing rainwater and contributing positively to the environment.

What is the largest geothermal pile system in North America and its purpose?

The largest geothermal pile system in North America is used in the building to eliminate natural gas for heating, making the building all-electric.

How is the building designed to be regenerative?

The building is designed to be regenerative with a commitment at the highest level, including breaking down the separation between building and power generation.

What is unique about the collaboration during the construction of the building?

The collaboration was unique due to the diverse group of partners and experts who were willing to try innovative and unconventional approaches.

How does the building incorporate photovoltaic panels differently?

The photovoltaic panels are not hidden but are integrated into the building's design as a beautiful material, turning every photon into daylight or power.

What is the philosophy behind the building's longevity?

Buildings last because people care about them and are willing to continue changing them, making the building a living, working laboratory.

Outlines

00:00

🏢 Rethinking the Office Building of the Future

The script discusses the uncertainty of future work environments and how Charleston East and Bay View are pioneering a new concept in office building design. The focus is on creating spaces that foster innovation and collaboration, with features like natural light, thermal and acoustic comfort, and communal areas for interaction. The building is designed to be adaptable to the evolving nature of work, including a hybrid of physical and virtual collaboration spaces.

🌿 Sustainability and People-First Design

The script emphasizes the connection between people-first design and sustainability. The project is described as the largest to pursue the Living Building Challenge, aiming to be regenerative and give back to the environment. Features include a geothermal pile system to eliminate natural gas for heating, water conservation, and a commitment to regenerative design.

🌱 Integrating Nature into the Building Design

The building is designed to blend into the natural landscape, acting as both a scenic garden and a high-performing landscape. It captures rainwater and integrates a photovoltaic panel system that turns every photon into daylight or power, making the building energy efficient and water positive.

🛠️ Collaborative Innovation in Construction

The script highlights the importance of collaboration and innovation in the construction process. The team includes diverse partners and experts who are willing to try unconventional ideas. The construction process involves full-scale mockups before finalizing the design, promoting a collaborative and bottom-up approach to problem-solving.

🔄 Adaptability and Emotional Connection in Building Design

The final part of the script discusses the need for buildings to be adaptable and to connect with people on an emotional level. The goal is to create buildings that will remain vibrant over decades, not because they are perfect, but because people care enough to continue changing and improving them.

Keywords

💡Office Building

An office building is a type of commercial building where people perform administrative, clerical, or other professional tasks. In the context of the video, the office building is reimagined as a space that fosters new ways of working and being together, rather than adhering to traditional office layouts. The script mentions that the building doesn't look like a typical office building, which helps to break preconceptions about how work should be conducted.

💡Hybrid World

The term 'hybrid world' refers to a combination of traditional and modern practices or technologies. In the video, it is used to describe the new way of working that combines physical presence in the office with virtual collaboration. Michelle mentions that the building can adapt and flex to meet the changing nature of work in this hybrid world.

💡Sustainability

Sustainability generally refers to the ability to maintain a certain process or state in the long term. In the video, sustainability is a core concept, with the building designed to be the largest project to pursue the Living Building Challenge, emphasizing the use of healthy materials, natural light, and a commitment to regenerative design. Asim mentions a 'people-first design' that directly correlates with sustainability.

💡Geothermal Pile System

A geothermal pile system is a type of ground-source heat pump that uses the earth's temperature to heat or cool buildings. The video highlights the largest geothermal pile system in North America, which allows the building to eliminate natural gas for heating, contributing to the building's all-electric status and aligning with the theme of sustainability.

💡Regenerative Design

Regenerative design aims to create systems that are sustainable and restorative, often by mimicking natural processes. Thomas discusses the commitment to making the building regenerative, which includes capturing rainwater and integrating the building with the natural landscape to give back to the environment.

💡Collaboration

Collaboration is the process of two or more entities working together to achieve a common goal. The video emphasizes both physical and virtual collaboration, with team spaces designed to facilitate in-person interaction as well as enhanced virtual collaboration, which is integral to the new way of working in the building.

💡Innovation

Innovation refers to the introduction of new ideas, devices, or methods. The video script mentions that the partners brought on for the project were chosen for their willingness to innovate and try out 'crazy' ideas, which is key to the project's success and its departure from traditional construction and design methods.

💡Living Building Challenge

The Living Building Challenge is a green building certification program and sustainable design framework that aims to create buildings that are environmentally responsible, beautiful, and restorative. The script indicates that the project is the largest to pursue any element of this challenge, emphasizing the project's commitment to sustainability.

💡Community

Community refers to a group of people sharing a common interest or living in the same place. In the video, the bottom level of the building is likened to a market, with meeting rooms and cafes designed to foster community and collaboration among the workers.

💡Acoustic Comfort

Acoustic comfort pertains to the quality of sound within a space, ensuring it is pleasant and free from noise pollution. The script mentions thermal, visual, and acoustic comfort as part of the design considerations, indicating that the building is intended to be a pleasant place to work.

💡Diversity

Diversity refers to the range of different things included. In the context of the video, diversity is highlighted as a strength in problem-solving, with a diverse group of individuals from various fields brought together to think differently and contribute to the project's innovative design and construction.

Highlights

The future of work is uncertain, with significant changes expected in the next 5 to 20 years.

Charleston East and Bay View are pioneering projects leading to a redefinition of office buildings.

The new design challenges traditional office building aesthetics, sparking curiosity and innovation.

The interior is designed as a canvas for creating new collaborative ways of working.

People-first design prioritizes healthy materials, air quality, natural light, and thermal, visual, and acoustic comfort.

The bottom level of the building functions as a community market with meeting rooms and cafes.

Upper levels are quieter, fostering focus on immediate team work.

Physical and virtual collaboration spaces are integrated to adapt to the new hybrid work model.

Sustainability is a core design principle, with a direct link to people-first design.

The project is the largest to pursue elements of the Living Building Challenge.

The building aims to give back to the environment by capturing rainwater and enhancing the natural landscape.

The building is designed to be highly energy efficient with the largest geothermal pile system in North America.

Water conservation efforts contribute to a water-positive performance on campus.

Regenerative design was a top-level commitment, aiming to create a positive environmental impact.

A unique set of innovative partners was brought on board, embracing unconventional ideas.

Collaborative thinking at all levels, including construction crews, was key to the project's success.

Full-scale mockups were created before finalizing the design to test innovative ideas.

A diverse group of experts was assembled to tackle complex sustainability challenges.

The project pushed the boundaries of construction, breaking down the separation between building and power generation.

Photovoltaic panels are integrated into the building's design, turning every photon into daylight or power.

Buildings are designed to be vibrant and adaptable for decades, reflecting emotional connections and ongoing change.

The building's longevity is tied to the community's care and willingness to evolve it over time.

Transcripts

(ducks quacking)

(gentle piano music)

- [Michelle] The one thing we know about the future

is we have no idea

how we're going to be working in 20 years,

10 years, even 5 years.

Charleston East and Bay View represent the first time

that we led the concept and construction

of our own major campuses.

And it's an opportunity to rethink

the very idea of what an office building is,

and rethink what's possible for the industry.

With this shape, we've had people walking by

and they're like, what is this?

Like, they don't even know.

It doesn't look like an office building,

which is so fascinating, because then when you come in,

you have no preconceptions of how to work

that comes from historic ways of working.

But instead, it's like a canvas

of creating new ways of being together.

With these projects, we really thought about people first,

using things like healthy materials and air quality.

Everyone has natural light

and has thermal, visual, and acoustic comfort.

Down on the bottom level is really like the market.

It's where we have our meeting rooms, cafes,

where you can connect with your community and collaborate.

And then up here, it's more quiet.

You're really focused on that immediate team.

-[Jeffrey] The premise around some of the team spaces is that

there is physical collaboration,

but there’s enhanced virtual collaboration that is going to happen also.

- [Michelle] This new hybrid world, work is going to change,

but this building can adapt and flex to meet that.

- [Asim] There's a straight line

from people-first design to sustainability.

It's actually the largest project

to ever pursue any element of the Living Building Challenge.

- [Thomas] And it seemed critical that this project isn't taking,

but actually giving.

There was the chance to breathe life

back into the natural landscape.

Not letting things like the rain water

just run away straight away, but capturing that.

(rain gently pattering)

- [Bjarke] The way that it is tucked into the nature

it’s not just a scenic garden

for the enjoyment of the neighbors and for the Googlers,

but it is also a highly performing landscape.

- [Asim] This is the largest geothermal pile system in North America

that allows us to eliminate natural gas for heating purposes,

helping us to make the building all electric.

And because we're saving a lot of water

that would otherwise have gone in cooling,

we're also getting water positive performance

out of this campus.

- [Thomas] There was a commitment at the highest level

to making something that was regenerative design.

(bright music)

- [Michelle] We brought on a very unique set of partners,

both in the design, as well as the build side,

people who were okay with trying out things that sounded crazy.

- [Jeffrey] They were chosen for a particular reason,

like innovation, they understood the challenge,

they were willing to try different things.

- [Asim] The amount of ingenuity I've seen

from the construction crews,

I can't even tell you all the stories.

That's a new way of thinking.

It's not top down.

It's actually collaborative at all levels.

-[Bjarke] Typically, you always do a full-scale mockup

as the last step before you actually build the building.

In this case, we were making full-scale mockups

before we even had a design.

- [Michelle] To really solve for these big, hairy problems,

we need to bring a diverse group of folks together,

from public agencies, sustainability experts,

environmental experts, who were willing to think differently

with us to make this happen.

- [Thomas] So there were things which were really

at the limits of what construction would ever let you do.

But the biggest one that we did make happen

was breaking down the separation

between building and power generation.

- [Bjarke] And suddenly it was the photovoltaic panel itself

was no longer some technical installation

that you hide on the roof.

It became this kind of beautiful material of the building.

Every single photon is turned to good use,

either for the perfect levels of daylight

inside the building,

and all the excess photons are converted into power.

- [Michelle] How do we make buildings that will be vibrant decades from now?

- [Thomas] Could we think about the design of something

that connects with people's feelings?

Emotion is a function.

- [Bjarke] It's not some kind of finished tombstone.

It's a living, working laboratory.

-[Michelle] Buildings that last do so not because they're perfect,

but because people care about them enough

to continue to change them.

So that's the whole story of the building, basically.

Should I erase it?

Leave it? Okay.