Construction is wrapping up with facade installation nearly complete for Google Caribbean, the waterfront five-story buildings along West Caribbean Drive in Sunnyvale, Santa Clara County. The zigzagging offices will bring a combined one million square feet of new office space for Google next year. The update comes as Google’s parent company, Alphabet, postponed construction of Downtown West in San Jose in April and put 1.4 million square feet of offices up for sublease last month. Bjarke Ingels Group is the project architect.
200 Google Caribbean, image by author
Google Caribbean pedestrian view from along Borregas Avenue, image by author
The 120-foot tall development is expected to yield 1.5 million square feet of new floor area with 536,750 square feet of office space in 100 Caribbean Drive, 505,140 square feet of office space in 200 Caribbean Drive, and 400,000 square feet for the 1,420-car garage. Additional surface parking will be included across the west and east parcels for 672 vehicles. Once complete, the project will have a capacity of up to 4,500 employees.
Google Caribbean main entrance, rendering by Bjarke Ingels Group
Google Caribbean south facade facing Caspian Court, image by author
The 40.5-acre property will be covered with greenery and paths designed by OLIN Landscape Architects. Trees will provide shade for much of the surface parking and pathways facing West Caribbean Drive. The programming focuses on social amenities near the four-story-tall south-facing entrances of both buildings along Caspain Court and Bordeaux Drive. Bridge crossing will connect pedestrians over the Caspain Channel waterway. The two plazas connect the street to a promenade, flexible seating area, and venues for temporary food trucks. A dog park will be positioned outside of 200 Caribbean.
Google Caribbean, illustration by OLIN Landscape Architects
Google Caribbean pedestrian bridge of the Caspian Channel, rendering by Bjarke Ingels Group
The unique design by BIG exemplifies the firm’s focus on green-scaping and sloped roofs, including the iconic CopenHill waste-to-energy plant designed and opened in 2017. The firm writes that “the two sibling office buildings stagger out of the landscape, forming ascending zigzagging roof gardens that allow Googlers to walk or bike straight from the Bay Trail all the way to their desks.”
While the north-facing massing is the most distinct attribute, the southern exposure will intake most visitors from the driveway and transit-using pedestrians. BIG writes that “the south facades are punctured with active quadruple-height porches forming the social heart of the building, as the activities spill out onto Caspian Drive, the new social street for the neighborhood
Google Caribbean pedestrian view, rendering by Bjarke Ingels Group
200 Google Caribbean seen from the Bay Trail mound, image by Andrew Campbell Nelson
The project is located close to the Borregas light rail station. The station connects Sunnyvale to the Mountain View Caltrain Station and Alum Rock in East San Jose. The project is within Sunnyvale’s Moffett Park Specific Plan, which plans to reshape the over one thousand-acre neighborhood with as many as 20,000 homes and nearly ten million square feet of new office and research space. Existing campuses include Amazon, Commonwealth, Google, Juniper Networks, and Lockheed Martin.
In a story reported by Laura Waxmann for the San Francisco Business Times, Google has listed seven properties available for sublease in Mountain View and Sunnyvale. The Mountain View properties include 600 Clyde Avenue, 620 National Avenue, and 750 Moffett Boulevard. In Sunnyvale, Google has offloaded 1000 Enterprise Way, 1020 Enterprise Way, 1050 Enterprise Way, and 1215 Bordeaux Drive.
Google Caribbean rooftop view, rendering by Bjarke Ingels Group
200 Caribbean Drive east view, rendering by Bjarke Ingels Group
Google Caribbean facade details, image by author
100 Google Caribbean seen from the Bay Trail Mound, image by Andrew Campbell Nelson
Following the 1.4 million square feet shed in Silicon Valley, Waxmann adds valuable context to the implications. Google maintains a real estate portfolio with 27 million square feet of office space in Silicon Valley, 2.5 million along the Peninsula and 1.6 million square feet in San Francisco.
Devcon is the project’s build contractor and architect of record. Kier & Wright is responsible for civil engineering, and KPFF for structural engineering. Clive Wilkinson Architects is responsible for the interior architecture. Sares Regis is the development manager on behalf of Google. The project is expected to receive LEED Gold certification for reduced water usage, energy efficiency, and native plants.
100 Google Caribbean from the Bay Trail, image by Andrew Campbell Nelson
Construction started in early 2021 with demolition for the various low-slung commercial buildings across ten acres. The structure rose soon after, with facade installation documented as early as October last year. The facilities are expected to be ready to open by 2024.
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The “Bay Trail Mound” referred to in photo captions is the Sunnyvale Landfill, which received garbage from Sunnyvale until it was closed in 1993.
I love the landscaped hillside look to it from the one side. too bad they could not do that on all sides of it, but it is a great way to add green space and rain water management to an office park. Would be great for sledding on a snow day in colder climates, if you know how to turn on a sled. My brother was not good at turning on a sled, or ducking to get under the barbed wire fence at the bottom of our yard, which is why all his school pics had a gash or big scab somewhere on his face.
“Waterfront” is definitely a stretch. It’s a creek.
If anyone is curious as to why Google is demanding workers return to office 3 days a week, the sheer amount of commercial real estate they own is why..
Beautiful buildings BIG, well done!
Hot dang
LEED should give points for a climate change education screen.
With all the people moving out of state, Google won’t have too much problem finding existing office space. Building palaces like this is a waste of resources that could be used for housing.
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