- Google is known for its quirky offices and built-in unusual structures.
- The tech giant often incorporates nods to local culture into its offices, and the one in Cambridge, Massachusetts no exception.
- The Cambridge-based office is full of references to local icons. Take a look inside.
- Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.
Google may have started in garage, but it’s offices are now some of the most interesting ones in tech.
The company is known for places offices in unexpected buildings, from an old airplane hangar in LA to a former vodka factory in Warsaw, Poland. Its Cambridge, Massachusetts office is in a more standard building, but the inside is unique to the location.
NELSON Worldwide design firm collaborated with Google employees to design a plan that includes some of Boston and Cambridge’s most iconic locations, all tied together as stops on the subway that’s shared by the two cities. These photos show how the designers integrated Google culture with Boston culture to form a one-of-a-kind office that won a 2015 iDesign Award.
Take a look at the photos here.
Google's massive Cambridge, MA office spans 300,000 square feet.
The multi-building workspace accommodates 1,200 workers.
Google's campus encircles a parking garage in Cambridge, near MIT's campus.
Design firm NELSON Worldwide worked with Google for five years to reach the final product, made up of three buildings, plus two smaller in-fill buildings to create one large floor plan.
Google initially planned on a 20,000 square foot campus, but after collaborating with NELSON and Google employees based in the area, eventually, this design was the winner.
According to NELSON, the goal was to create a campus that was a "truly Boston/Cambridge space, with specific nods to both."
The campus is inspired by Boston and Cambridge's transit system, the MBTA.
Each of five buildings is a different colored line of the "T," as Boston's subway system.
...and each floor is a different stop.
The Arlington Street stop, for example, is a library...
...inspired by the Victorian houses on the real-life Green Line stop.
On the Red Line, the Charles/MGH stop is based on the Liberty Hotel, which itself is based on the infamous Charles Street Jail, and has real jailhouse doors, according to office blog Office Snapshots.
Source: Office Snapshots