Amazon Unveils Helix Building As Heart Of HQ2 Campus In Virginia

Source: SF Gate, Fredrick Kunkle (The Washington Post)
Photo: Amazon plans to build a 22-story helical building in Arlington, Va., as the centerpiece of its second headquarters. The building, designed by architectural firm NBBJ, overlooks a site that includes venues for public performances, green space and shopping. (NBBJ/Amazon)

Amazon unveiled plans Tuesday to build a futuristic building modeled after a double helix to serve as the centerpiece of its Arlington, Va., headquarters.

In artists’ renderings, the 350-foot-tall building – designed by the architectural firm NBBJ to reflect nature’s fondness for the helix in areas from DNA to the Milky Way galaxy – climbs above its National Landing neighborhood like the swirl on an ice cream cone or the tip of a giant screw that has punched through the Earth’s surface.

Amazon officials said the structure is intended to be an alternative workspace, not a traditional office building, where employees would be able to air out ideas and find downtime beyond their cubicles. Trees dot terraces along two walkways that spiral upward, evoking the feel of a stroll through the Blue Ridge Mountains. The streetscape below, with wood-frame retail pavilions and green space, is designed to appeal to people and keep them around when the workday ends.

Company officials said they want the corporate complex to blend with the neighborhood, offering features such as a community center, an amphitheater, a dog run, new bicycle lanes and 2.5 acres of green space that would be open to anyone. The Helix would include an artists-in-residence program and on occasional weekends would open its doors to the public.

“This isn’t just about work. It’s about how you interact with your community,” architect Dale Alberda, a principal of NBBJ, said during a news briefing.

Amazon, which submitted plans Tuesday seeking county approval for the second phase of development, said the project emphasizes sustainability, including environmentally friendly buildings that maximize natural light and eventually would rely entirely on solar power for energy. (Employees would be able to open windows if they want.)

The Helix, together with three traditional office buildings in the PenPlace area of the second headquarters, would create about 2.8 million square feet of office space. The Helix is the tallest of the planned buildings and plays off the Spheres, a bio-inspired architectural design at the company’s headquarters in Seattle.

Construction on the Helix and related office complexes is expected to begin in 2022 and wrap by 2025.

Meanwhile, construction is already underway on two eco-friendly office towers in the Metropolitan Park section of the complex. That area of the Arlington-based headquarters will create 2.1 million square feet of office space and about 65,000 square feet of retail space and other community features.

(Amazon founder and chief executive Jeff Bezos owns The Washington Post.)

https://www.sfgate.com/business/article/Amazon-unveils-22-story-Helix-building-as-heart