First Peek at Amazon’s New SLU Headquarters
[ Boren Ave N., between John St and Harrison St, looking West ]
Shown above is the initial concept(pdf) for Amazon’s new headquarters in South Lake Union, to be presented at the Early Design Guidance meeting on April 2. This project owes its existence to a two-block, rezone granted by the City Council last December that raised the building height limits from 65 and 85 feet to 160 feet.
The architect is Callison, and LEED Silver is being targeted. The 11-story building to the south, known as block 35, will be the first phase, with 328k square feet total, of which 151k sf is parking (500 stalls), and 4500 sf is retail.
[ View looking East ]
Update: Since it’s so early in the process, I was going to refrain from commenting on the design, but… for the biggest and most well known online bookstore on the face of the planet, wouldn’t one expect a world headquarters that was a little more architecturally adventurous, a little more iconic, perhaps? What they’re showing so far is totally generic office building. Why not, say, a building that looks like a row of books on a bookshelf? Or something crazier. Where is the sense of pride? Or at least sense of humor or fun. Amazon is a phenomenal success story. I say let that big ego fly.