Jodi Summers = Santa Monica Real Estate

GOOGLE GREENS LEASED LOCAL LANDMARK OFFICE SPACE

October 15, 2011 on 12:49 am | In Fascinating Information, Fun, Green, Of Local Importance, Uncategorized, websites | 3 Comments

450 ENGINEERS INVADE DURING NOVEMBER

By Jodi Summers

Google has about 170,000 square feet of office space under lease in the Venice area, 100,000 of it in the three buildings it has leased, the Binoculars Building and two adjacent office spaces.

Word on that street has it that another 70,000 square feet at undisclosed locations has also been leased nearby, a common Google practice that ensures the company can maintain a long-term place in the community.

“We managed to hire almost 150 people last year,” Williams said. “We expect a steady rate of hiring, continuing to grow. The building we’re moving into should give us another year to a year and a half at current growth. Ideally, I’d like to keep it under 1,200 Googlers.” Williams acknowledged that things could change however.

Binocular building. By the time the press is over, you’ll know that it was built by Frank Gehry in 1985 as the west coast headquarters of advertising giant Chiat/Day. You’ll learn that the binoculars are the entrance to the parking garage, and that they were designed by husband and wife sculpting team Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen. Dig deep enough and you may read about Chiat/Day’s failed office and paper-less work experiment, and that the three different building facades are actually a part of the same design, meant to reflect the nuances of the buildings around them.

When creating fresh office space, use a fresh approach. Google’s idea for their new space on Main St. Venice, put the user first. For the same reason Google chose one of the hippest locations in the country for their office space > 340 Main St., Venice, 90291 > in hopes of luring the best talent. They’ve taken the same approach to their office space in the Binoculars building > make it a user-friendly experience.

Google’s goal (try saying that 5x fast) is to create the healthiest work environments possible so Google masterminds can thrive and innovate. From concept through design, construction and operations, the search engine’s goal is to create a brick + mortar workplace that optimizing access to nature, clean air and daylight.

To keep the Google brain trust at peak performance, they avoid materials that contain volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and other known toxins that may harm human health. Furniture, carpet, flooring, toilets > all green, and augmented by dual stage air filtration systems to eliminate plankton-like particles and remaining VOCs, further augmenting indoor air quality. Or, they could Additionally, the location is so fine, they cay just open the west facing windows and let the ocean breeze come rolling through, as it does from 10:30 a.m. – sunset on all days except for Santa Ana conditions.

Betcha want to know > in North America, Google purchases materials free of the Living Building Challenge Red List Materials and EPA Chemicals of Concern, and through the Pharos Project. They also ask their suppliers to meet strict transparency requirements.

Google is also making an effort to shrink our environmental footprint by investing in the most efficient heating, cooling and lighting systems (and opening the windows). In Venice, like in their other offices, they will perform energy and water audits and implement conservation measures to develop best practices. Venice’s efficiency will be tallied into Google’s worldwide office talley.

Their internal Sustainable Pursuit program allows location teams to earn points based on their office’s green performance—whether it’s through green cleaning programs, water efficiency or innovative waste management strategies. Using Google Apps to help track progress and achieve set goals has helped Google meet or exceed the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED standards, and make the world a greener place.

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http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/08/building-healthier-greener-google.html

http://www.grvnc.org/node/1657

http://venice.patch.com/articles/google-introduces-itself-to-venice-at-neighborhood-council-meeting

http://welovenice.com/2011/01/26/do-you-see-what-we-see-google-moves-into-the-binocular-building/

http://modiztrends.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/google-russia-office-interior.jpg

http://s3.amazonaws.com/materialicious2/images/google-offices-interior-m.jpg?1280470846