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Outside the curvy structure, the building’s flat panes of glass form harder edges-bearing more similarity to a geodesic dome. “We wanted it to be much more organic and disguise this geometry so it’s something you would discover over time… more vine-like than structural steel-like.” “My goal was to have it not be so apparent that the building didn’t look like a pentagon,” said Alberda. Inside the glass walls, the metal structures appear more fluid, with curves favored over hard edges. “What we love about this is that you can then develop one singular component, fit together like a puzzle.” A bench faces an outer wall of the Spheres, overlooking a city view. “There are very few of those shapes you can use again and again,” explained Dale Alberda, NBBJ’s lead designer on the project. NBBJ worked with structural engineering firm Magnusson Klemencic Associates to run simulations and settle on the geometry. Models of some of the modules used to construct the Spheres. NBBJ is calling the pentagonal frames used to construct the Spheres Catalans, since they drew on the work of Belgian mathematician Eugène Charles Catalan-who in turn drew from the work of Archimedes-to create them. Like geodesic domes, the Spheres are constructed using a repeating geometric module. While the Spheres bear similarities to, say, a traditional geodesic dome, this structure is far more complicated. John Savo, left, and Alberda discuss the building’s design from the Green Room, a boardroom-like space surrounded by wire on the third floor of the Spheres.īut creating a sphere is more difficult than it may appear. “It got us excited because it took a traditional form and it took a whole new direction,” recalled NBBJ’s John Savo. Eventually, as the company and firm settled on the Spheres’s site, the more traditional shape evolved into more straightforward orbs.
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NBBJ design lead Dale Alberda shows some initial concept sketches for what would eventually become the Spheres. Among those shapes was a more traditional, bulbous conservatory shape. Initial concept sketches by local architecture firm NBBJ show shapes ranging from rectangular to Gothic arches.
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The facility took more than six years of planning, construction, and planting to come to fruition, and the Spheres weren’t always going to be spheres. Like those Seattle icons, the Spheres are distinctive and eye-catching, and are part of a big Seattle story in this case, the Spheres mark the height of a tech boom in the city while still acknowledging the cherished relationship many Seattleites hold with the natural world.Ĭlockwise from top left: Three plants are displayed in mounted light boxes. “Its artful design also contributes to the many iconic sculptures that our city and its rich heritage offer,” said Schoetter, name-checking Smith Tower, the Space Needle, and Pike Place Market. It’s been hailed as Seattle’s next major landmark. Yesterday, Curbed Seattle got to take a look around the triple-domed structure, speaking with the architects and horticulturalists who built the concept and, eventually, the entire facility. “We asked ourselves: What is missing from the modern office? We discovered that missing element was a link to nature.” “We wanted a space for employees to collaborate and innovate,” said Amazon Vice President for Global Real Estate and Facilities John Schoetter, introducing the building during the grand opening. “Alexa, open the Spheres,” commanded Jeff Bezos, and with that, Amazon’s hybrid greenhouse and office space the Spheres officially launched.