Where Is The Headquarters Of Google Located?

The Android statues are a highlight of visiting the Googleplex. Editorial credit: MariaX / Shutterstock.com
The Android statues are a highlight of visiting the Googleplex. Editorial credit: MariaX / Shutterstock.com

Google is the largest search engine on the internet and one of the world’s most influential technological companies. Googleplex is the organization’s headquarters, and it is in located in Mountain View, California. Googleplex is a name made by combining the words Google and complex, and it is a series of buildings that cover a space 3,100,000 square feet. Googleplex was built in 2004 and the interiors redesigned by architect Clive Wilkinson in 2005. Google first leased the space in 2003 and bought it later in 2004. Numerous additions have been made throughout the years to the original SGI campus. These additions include the Bay View, which was officially opened in 2015. The Bay View addition is the first of the buildings Google has designed for itself. The construction of the Bay View began in 2013 with an estimated cost of $120 million.

Structure Of Googleplex

Googleplex is designed into a university-like environment from the placement of buildings to the sections in the complex. Googleplex uses the buildings previously occupied by Silicon Graphics. The complex consists of office spaces and corporate campus. The office spaces are designed with the goals of fostering teamwork and creativity among the workers. The workspaces in the campus are educational themed, providing different settings, which are similar to those in learning institutions. These include units such as a formal “lecture room” where technology talks take place. These rooms have whiteboards, which are key in problem-solving initiatives. The design of these spaces include enclosed cubicles safe from outside distractions for Google’s coding engineers. While these areas are enclosed for privacy, they allow natural light to get in.

Google Working Environment

Google treasures it workers and has developed a positive environment for them. The work environment consists of both workspaces and recreation centers such as gyms, swimming pools, tennis courts, and volleyball courts, 18 cafeterias featuring a diversity of foods, a free laundry room bikes, and cars to make movement around the campus easier. The complex has solar panels installed on the rooftops to contribute to the power needs of the corporation. These panels produce about 1.6 megawatts of electricity, which supports about 30% of the required power. Two solar carports support the electric cars parked within. To foster interactions among the workers in Googleplex, Google has employee benefits such as free food in their cafeteria, which encourages workers to eat within the grounds. Other interactions take place outdoors during recreational activities such as exercising in the gyms and playing in the sport courses. Playtime provides the employees at Googleplex with an opportunity to unwind while working. Within the complex is Google X Lab, a secret lab where new inventions are developed. Some of these inventions include the Google Glass, smart glasses designed in the shape of eyeglasses.

Tourism To Googleplex

Google has received numerous acclaims as one of the best companies in the world. The Google complex in Mountain View attracts many tourists every year. Some of the attractions that draw in tourists to the Googleplex include numerous statues such as Android statues, the Android Donut, the Noogler statue dedicated to new employees of Google and the Google dinosaurs. Googleplex has been featured in Films such as The Internship and is an inspiration for the headquarters of the Silicon Valley, a fictional TV series.

Share

More in World Facts