Inside Google’s New Sustainable Mass Timber Office Space

Google’s new California office has been designed with its employees and the environment in mind.

The building is its first to be constructed using mass timber – a new form of engineered wood that is made up of numerous layered and laminated smaller pieces of wood.

In a company blog, Scott Foster, VP, Real Estate & Workplace Services, wrote:

Today, we’re announcing a new office that showcases the principles we’ve long applied to our real estate: creating sustainable spaces that allow Googlers to do their best work.

Take a look at 1265 Borregas in Sunnyvale, California, and find out how it was designed to benefit both Googlers and the community in the state our company calls home.

Scott Foster, VP, Real Estate & Workplace Services, Google

Future workplace design

Scott said the building “reflects our latest ways of working”.

It features neighbourhood spaces designed to support active collaboration, hybrid connections and “heads-down focus work”, while also showing off Google’s focus on “nature-based (or biophilic) workplace design”.

Scott added:

Research suggests people are able to focus and do their best work when surrounded by nature.

A building like this one achieves this by keeping the timber exposed inside and outside of the space, while providing natural daylight and sweeping views of the Northern California landscape.

Automatic wooden blinds adjust to the sun’s position and minimise glare, and an underfloor air system provides optimal comfort.

Google’s new California office

Why is mass timber special?

Mass timber is valued as a sustainable construction material because of its regenerative qualities and its ability to absorb and store carbon – known as sequestration.

It helps decrease carbon emissions that come from the extraction, production and transportation of traditional building materials.

As a result, 1265 Borregas is projected to have 96% fewer embodied carbon emissions than an equivalent steel and concrete structure, factoring in sequestration over time.

To achieve these benefits, 100% of the structural mass timber lumber used was procured from responsibly managed forests certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC).

The office is also an all-electric, LEED Platinum building and it includes solar panels on its roof to generate electricity for the building.

Not such a noisy neighbour

Scott said: “All of these features work together to advance Google’s goal to achieve net-zero emissions and operate on carbon-free energy 24/7 by 2030.

He added that there are other benefits from using mass timber.

One of the biggest advantages of mass timber construction is that pre-fit building parts accelerate structural assembly, resulting in less construction traffic and on-site construction noise (like jackhammering), while also decreasing construction waste.

Google has also planted three acres of pollinator-friendly native plants, including coast live oak, California sagebrush, California wild rose and common milkweed.

On the northeast corner of the building, you’ll find public artwork — inspired by Atari, which was previously headquartered in this location.

Scott said:

This building shows what’s possible when you combine sustainability and construction efficiency into an office building, while also prioritising employee wellbeing.

We hope that others in the industry will join us in this approach in support of a more sustainable future.