Amazon campus in Seattle (biosphere content)
http://i.imgur.com/vH9pyZq.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/bv53iEW.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/Ipwejqh.jpg
Get ready...the biospheres are soon to be ready. I took these pics as I was walking to the grocery store last week after work. When I turned the corner, from a distance, I actually thought that a building had collapsed. Pretty cool stuff when you get up close, especially after you realize that those steel shapes are rolled COR-TEN.
Aerial photos show Amazon's epic biospheres taking shape in Seattle - GeekWire
Re: Amazon campus in Seattle (biosphere content)
The design is interesting.
No matter how great the design of far more import IMO is a major IT oriented company is putting its headquarters in a major city downtown.
Re: Amazon campus in Seattle (biosphere content)
Really interesting structure, should be a very interesting look, as opposed to a more simple way of doing a sphere like that. The fact that it is not a half sphere has got to make the structural design much much harder.
I had to do some digging, the designer is nbbj, got to love articles that dont have any information on that stuff, nice sketches and models here: seattle approves amazon's biosphere headquarters by NBBJ
Re: Amazon campus in Seattle (biosphere content)
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Matthew J
No matter how great the design of far more import IMO is a major IT oriented company is putting its headquarters in a major city downtown.
why's that?
Re: Amazon campus in Seattle (biosphere content)
Quote:
Originally Posted by
dashDustin
why's that?
IMO - seems tech workers are more likely to use (well designed) mass transit. Putting a large corp complex in a city enables people living in or outside the city to use alternate means of transport to get to work. Less cars on the road is a good thing. My company has headquarters in DT Seattle and Portland and people working in those facilities love they are in the downtown area.
Re: Amazon campus in Seattle (biosphere content)
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Brandon White
IMO - seems tech workers are more likely to use (well designed) mass transit. Putting a large corp complex in a city enables people living in or outside the city to use alternate means of transport to get to work. Less cars on the road is a good thing. My company has headquarters in DT Seattle and Portland and people working in those facilities love they are in the downtown area.
that makes sense. especially with well designed mass transit. Austin does not have that by any stretch of the imagination. i forget that most major metro areas do.
Re: Amazon campus in Seattle (biosphere content)
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Brandon White
IMO - seems tech workers are more likely to use (well designed) mass transit. Putting a large corp complex in a city enables people living in or outside the city to use alternate means of transport to get to work. Less cars on the road is a good thing. My company has headquarters in DT Seattle and Portland and people working in those facilities love they are in the downtown area.
Beyond the opportunities to use mass transit, I've generally found downtown workplaces to be more interesting, vibrant, and convenient for work/life balance. I worked in downtown DC for a few years and the access to restaurants, bars, stores, doctors, couriers, etc. was awesome. I've been in an office park for the last 10 years and it's generally a pain to get to, a pain to get lunch, and a pain to run errands. That leads people to choose remote work as many days as possible and the entire vibe at the office is more subdued and, IMO, less productive. So, yeah, I'd be stoked if my company opened up a downtown Miami office.
Re: Amazon campus in Seattle (biosphere content)
Quote:
Originally Posted by
dashDustin
why's that?
CarCentric suburban corporate campuses never made sense. They make even less now.
In addition, the creative dynamic that flows when people live, work and play in a close knit urban environment helps ensure the company's and workers' future growth.
Re: Amazon campus in Seattle (biosphere content)
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Matthew J
CarCentric suburban corporate campuses never made sense. They make even less now.
In addition, the creative dynamic that flows when people live, work and play in a close knit urban environment helps ensure the company's and workers' future growth.
Tell me about it, when I got my first corporate job at a corporate campus in the middle of nowhere that resembles a prison cosmetically and in its isolation of the denizens from the outside world, it was a serious shock to the system. After about 6 months I "got used to it," but it is still theater of the absurd. Now I'm in a much more attractive, less-prisonlike corporate campus, but it's still stupid. Can't walk anywhere, surrounded by roaring arterials, etc.
Re: Amazon campus in Seattle (biosphere content)
Chances are if you feel like you are being productive at your job, you are being productive and your workplace plays a large role in helping to make you more effective at your job. A workplace and work environment that supports collaboration, promotes a healthy lifestyle and allows you to devote more time to your family and not commuting, can also make for a more effective business model, regardless of the product that you and your coworkers produce.
Unfortunately, when a company seeks to relocate or develop a new office, they sometimes still stick to the "old 8-mile rule". That is, locate the office no more than 8 miles from the CEO's home. In Amazon's case, maybe Bezos saw past the rule...or perhaps he's in the 8 miles radius. In either case, the Amazon campus has had a profound impact on South Lake Union and they seem to be pulling out all stops in seeking to attract and retain talent, at least in terms of the facilities.
Re: Amazon campus in Seattle (biosphere content)
The opposite happened when our Denver office moved to a downtown location. Most of my colleagues that I communicate with regularly really dislike the downtown location. Even though our company contributes to their public transit costs, it has become a commuting nightmare for a lot of folks. Some have even left the company as a result. Others have gone to working four tens or four nines and a half day at home on Fridays.
However...if the opportunity presented itself and a position of my discipline opened up...I would probably still move out there.
Guy
Re: Amazon campus in Seattle (biosphere content)
I've not been to Denver. Maybe their downtown / public transit sucks.
The several corporations that have moved or are moving from suburbs or smaller cities (Moline, IL, Omaha, NB) to Chicago downtown have gotten very positive reviews from workers.
From my visits there, I think Seattle has a great central business area. Moreover, my understanding is Amazon is paying for additional transit service and funding residential developments walking and biking distances from the new headquarters.
Re: Amazon campus in Seattle (biosphere content)
My experience in Boston:
I lived in the city of Boston (within 2 miles of the Prudential the whole time) for 13 years. I had one job downtown and then started taking jobs progressively further out from downtown. I commuted by bike and there was no suitable public transport option to any of the jobs. As my jobs moved further from downtown, the stress level decreased and work/life balance improved.
Once our kids were old enough for school, we left Boston for a location with quality schools, more space, and less congestion/stress. I was fortunate enough to take my job with me and now work remotely.
A big part of focusing your company "downtown" is appealing to the work force you want. Can families afford to live in the Seattle area and commute to that new office? In Boston, the people seeking affordable housing, good schools, and a better balance are the ones moving away from the city and taking those jobs in the office parks. They are not the people working in Gov Center, the Pru and Hancock towers though.
Re: Amazon campus in Seattle (biosphere content)
Man am I going to derail this thread. I am a project superintendent for a medium sized construction management co. I love me some tower cranes and non traditional structural steel. If you have ever been up a tower crane you know what I'm talking about.
Very cool design and structure.
Mike
Re: Amazon campus in Seattle (biosphere content)
As a seattleite I'm glad for the presence of a large tech population that will force better transit options. Historically this city has lost its butt, both hands and the flashlight in the search for a mass transit option worth sitting in. Growing pains will happen but I am excited to see what they bring.
Re: Amazon campus in Seattle (biosphere content)
http://i.imgur.com/SzIe0q3.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/sTxqE1o.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/Y5hemRB.jpg
It's coming along...soon the Amazonians will be breathing plant infused air in the domes.
Re: Amazon campus in Seattle (biosphere content)
Amazon has employees ?, haven't they heard of the internet ?
Re: Amazon campus in Seattle (biosphere content)
Re: Amazon campus in Seattle (biosphere content)
Quote:
Originally Posted by
roseyscot
My experience in Boston:
I lived in the city of Boston (within 2 miles of the Prudential the whole time) for 13 years. I had one job downtown and then started taking jobs progressively further out from downtown. I commuted by bike and there was no suitable public transport option to any of the jobs. As my jobs moved further from downtown, the stress level decreased and work/life balance improved.
Once our kids were old enough for school, we left Boston for a location with quality schools, more space, and less congestion/stress. I was fortunate enough to take my job with me and now work remotely.
A big part of focusing your company "downtown" is appealing to the work force you want. Can families afford to live in the Seattle area and commute to that new office? In Boston, the people seeking affordable housing, good schools, and a better balance are the ones moving away from the city and taking those jobs in the office parks. They are not the people working in Gov Center, the Pru and Hancock towers though.
The challenge in Boston - and in the many desirable cities across the US - is to address the infrastructure demands. For Boston this includes housing and transportation services. The city and region is responding with greater supply and improved services, but not as quickly as the demand has grown.
- Affordable housing will result from greater supply. It's coming, but will only decrease - not eliminate - the supply & demand problem.
- The schools have dramatically improved over the last 20 years. As I speak to your peers (my peers have moved past the primary/secondary school years) I see parents choosing between good options with their neighborhood schools, not failing to get the very rare seats in the handful of acceptable public schools, which was my experience in the 90s.
- After the disastrous winter of 2015, the MBTA is finally due to get new Orange and Red Line cars in, hmmm, 2 years. More seriously, the T is getting the serious management and financial attention it's long needed.
I've lived and worked within a few miles of the Pru for 35 years. Maybe that's one fundamental difference between us - I work where I live. I haven't been in a car since Saturday morning, and that's been pretty typical for me for years now.
I love Boston and really don't want to live anywhere else. Amazon, Google, GE, etc. seem to agree.
Re: Amazon campus in Seattle (biosphere content)