In a tip of the hat to its previous incarnation, the St John’s Terminal office building features exposed rail beds along the northern facade, while sustainable design and innovative workspaces very much look to the future. The building was designed by CookFox Architects, as core and shell architect, with Gensler as lead interior architect, and developed by Oxford Properties.

Google’s own research shows that innovation is born from small, tight-knit teams working together, and this insight has informed its “teams first” approach. The building will feature a new shared neighbourhood seating model, which has been found to foster greater levels of social connection and team cohesion in earlier pilots. Instead of every employee having their own desk, every team will have an assigned area as their home base. Shared neighbourhoods will also have a variety of desks, meeting rooms, phone booths, and communal tables to accommodate different types of work. Workspaces on different floors will be clustered around a 12-storey fire stair, designed to enhance transparency and connectivity. And according to CookFox Architects, workspaces include highly filtered outside air and biodynamic lighting. 

Google has also provided a range of communal spaces where anyone can work, including those visiting New York from its other offices. These spaces include work lounges on every floor, cafes, terraces, micro-kitchens, and more, all furnished with ergonomic and soft seating, ample work surfaces, and access to power outlets. The result is a mix of work environments to accommodate different moods, behaviours and tasks – from spaces that feel like a busy coffee shop, to a relaxing outdoor garden, to a quiet library with river views.

Sales team members informed the design team that providing ample, dedicated space where clients can come in and spend the day collaborating closely with Google staff helps with understanding clients’ needs. Consequently, several floors are dedicated to this type of partner-based work, with amenities including an events hub, cafe space, and breakout rooms.

A sustainable, history-conscious design

In a blog on the new office, Sean Downey, Google’s president – Americas and global business, described how the offices aim to “enhance the communities” where it operates, rather than “towering over them”.

“One of the ways we do this is by adapting historic buildings to be reused for our offices, like Pier 57 and Chelsea Market. The original St John’s terminal structure serves as the base of our new office, but we removed the portion that loomed over Houston street, removing a dark tunnel and restoring the connection between the Hudson Square neighbourhood and the waterfront.

“Adapting the existing structure and foundation is projected to save approximately 78,400 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions when compared to creating a new structural foundation. That’s equivalent to removing roughly 17,000 cars from the road for a year.”

The building’s green-space features include 1.5 acres of vegetation at street level, in rail bed gardens, and on terraces – benefitting the local ecology. Indeed, more than 95 per cent of the building’s exterior plants are said to be native to New York State, and working with NYC Audubon, more than 40 bird species have been observed using the habitat created at St John’s Terminal. Other sustainability features include solar panels, rainwater retention, and wood reclaimed from the Coney Island boardwalk following Hurricane Sandy. And a large bicyycle parking facility encourages bicycle commuting.

The building is said to have achieved LEED v4 Platinum for the core and shell and is targeting other green ratings.