Amazon in the Regrade
While the typical corporate campus often prioritizes heads-down work at the expense of social connection, Amazon’s Seattle headquarters creates a dynamic hub in the Denny Triangle neighborhood of Seattle. To provide a unique and inviting experience that opens up the headquarters as a more engaging social space, NBBJ’s Environmental Graphic Design studio employed a series of environmental graphics throughout the project’s buildings, gardens and communal amenities.
The main building—called Doppler—features a multi-sensory entry that includes a literature wall with excerpts from texts related to human discovery and exploration. On the lower floors of the high-rise buildings, NBBJ also designed the Centers of Energy: social hubs filled with employee amenities that are enhanced via environmental graphics to promote seamless navigation. Finally, research shows that, when stairs are visible and well-designed, employees are more likely to make the healthy choice of walking instead of taking the elevator. The staircase in the Center of Energy features an engaging word collage that also serves as a wayfinding device.
Project Details
Client Name
Amazon
Square Footage
65,000 SF
Program
Commercial offices and amenity spaces
Services
Environmental graphic design
Sustainability
Tracking LEED Gold
Phase
Completed
Client Name
Amazon
Square Footage
65,000 SF
Program
Commercial offices and amenity spaces
Services
Environmental graphic design
Sustainability
Tracking LEED Gold
Phase
Completed
AIA Seattle, Honorable Mention
CoreNet Global Washington State Chapter Awards, Innovative Workplace of the Year (over 20,000 SF)
Seattle Design Review Program, People’s Choice Awards, 2nd Place, Highrise Category
The Architect’s Newspaper, Best of Design Awards, Facades
USGlass Magazine Design Award
AIA Seattle, Honorable Mention
CoreNet Global Washington State Chapter Awards, Innovative Workplace of the Year (over 20,000 SF)
Seattle Design Review Program, People’s Choice Awards, 2nd Place, Highrise Category
The Architect’s Newspaper, Best of Design Awards, Facades
USGlass Magazine Design Award
Bloomberg, “Inside Amazon’s Giant Spheres, Where Workers Chill in a Mini Rainforest”
CNN, “Amazon's new workplace perk, the Spheres, to open Monday”
Fast Company, “A First Look At The Spheres, Amazon’s Wild New Corporate Biodome”
Popular Science, “Is Amazon’s Dome Headquarters the Workspace of the Future?”
The New Yorker, “High-Tech Companies, Low-Tech Offices”
The Wall Street Journal, “Inside Amazon's Spheres, the Biodome Office in Seattle”
Bloomberg, “Inside Amazon’s Giant Spheres, Where Workers Chill in a Mini Rainforest”
CNN, “Amazon's new workplace perk, the Spheres, to open Monday”
Fast Company, “A First Look At The Spheres, Amazon’s Wild New Corporate Biodome”
Popular Science, “Is Amazon’s Dome Headquarters the Workspace of the Future?”
The New Yorker, “High-Tech Companies, Low-Tech Offices”
The Wall Street Journal, “Inside Amazon's Spheres, the Biodome Office in Seattle”
