Amazon has unveiled the final design of its second headquarters to be built in Virginia. A spectacular conglomeration of buildings open to the public.
Amazon unveils new headquarters: The Helix, a spectacular spiral skyscraper
It’s called The Helix, and visitors will be able to climb to the top by walking up a steep, spiraling slope. It’s going to be the most iconic building in Amazon’s new Virginia headquarters.
The current headquarters of Jeff Bezos’ company is in Seattle. But it has become too small, so Amazon announced three years ago that it was going to start building a second headquarters in Arlington County, Virginia, 15 minutes by metro from Washington.
Today it has presented the final project, which must be approved by the city council, as explained by CNN: A conglomerate of several buildings, where The Helix (the Helix), a spectacular spiral skyscraper nearly 120 meters high, stands out:
Not only does it stand out for its shape, which will be able to be walked around the outside of the building all the way to the top, but also because both the inside and outside of the skyscraper are filled with trees and plants. And yet, it will still be a building to work in.
“We’re building a series of atriums and interior gardens that are not a greenhouse or a place to visit, but a place you can go to work,” explains Dale Alberda, the lead architect for the firm NBBJ, which has developed the complex. NBBJ has also designed the headquarters of Microsoft and Samsung, among others.
Amazon will dedicate the Helix to working on unconventional projects, while the other buildings will have more classic offices.
The company intends for the headquarters, named PenPlace, to be open to the public. More than 2.5 acres are to be devoted to open space including a 250-seat amphitheater, public parks, fast food stands, a farmers’ market, parking for 950 bicycles, stores, and restaurants. It will also open the Helix to the public at least two weekends a month.
It is an environmentally friendly building that will be self-sufficient through electricity from a solar farm they are building 200 miles away. It also has a system to reuse rainwater.
Amazon’s new headquarters has a budget of $2.5 billion. If it receives city council approval it will begin construction in 2022 and will be completed in 2025.
