Amazon Headquarters Seattle
Tech companies are in the midst of a massive building boom, with major office expansions underway at almost every top company. While most have opted for expanding in low rise structures in sprawling suburban complexes, Amazon has chosen to establish a vertical campus in the Denny Triangle neighborhood of downtown Seattle. The current plan calls for a cluster of 3 37-story towers that, when completed in 2021, will provide enough space for 55,000 employees. Design of the campus has been overseen by the Seattle headquarters of international firm NBBJ.
Tower 1: Doppler
Standing at 524 feet in height, the first tower is located at 2021 7th Avenue and has been given the name Doppler, the former codename of the company's popular Echo voice assistant device. The glass curtain wall features vertical fins and spandrel panels in a variety of designs and colors, varying at each face of the tower. Amenities for Amazon's employees, some of whom moved in last December, include a self serve food market, an outdoor area for grilling, a dog park on the 17th floor, video game room, and 3-d printers.
Tower 2
The second tower on the Amazon campus, located at 2101 7th Avenue, rises to 521 feet in height. Like tower 1, the second tower features a glass curtain wall but opts for a mostly horizontal articulation with slab caps and glass frit. At the base of the tower, three 80 to 90 feet tall steel-and-glass spheres will house more office and retail space alongside full sized trees and plants.
Work on the third tower is in the early stages and should be complete by 2021..
Architect: NBBJ; Client: Amazon; Program: Office, Retail; Location: Denny Triangle, Seattle, Washington; Completion: 2016 (Tower 1), 2017 (Tower 2), 2021 (Tower 3).
