Archinect - News

First phase of Amazon HQ2 has been completed in Arlington, VA

2023-06-21T11:51:00-04:00

Phase 1 of the Amazon HQ2 has been completed in Arlington, VA, which includes the newly-created Met Park and rooftop terraces designed by James Corner Field Operations. The park is part of a broader $2.5 billion headquarters featuring buildings by NBBJ and ZGF Architects.

Image credit: Michael Zhao

According to the design team, the new Met Park “draws inspiration from the area’s natural context and reinforces the trend reshaping our cities with green infrastructure and pedestrian networks.” Over 50,000 plants and 160 native species are contained in the park, alongside public art commissions by Nekisha Durrett, Iñigo Manglano-Ovalle, and Aurora Robson.

Image credit: Michael Zhao

In addition to the park, over two acres of landscaped roof terraces have been created within the Phase 1 buildings of Amazon’s headquarters, which were designed by ZGF. Features within the rooftop terraces include rocky outcrops, gardens, an urban farm, and “p...

Amazon hits the brakes on its new HQ2 headquarters project (for now)

2023-03-03T17:06:00-05:00

[...] the company’s decision made public on Friday to pause plans in Virginia — about four years after Amazon pulled out of its campus in New York — is the latest reminder that the tech industry’s long boom has slowed. [...] The pause will affect PenPlace, the second and larger stage, which would build a mix of office towers, open space and a signature, spiraling glass building Amazon calls the Helix.

The move comes after Amazon reported its first unprofitable year since 2014. The helix-shaped, $2.5 billion biophilia-lined PenPlace design had only been greenlit in August and is contracted to NBBJ. Amazon had said its construction would cost another $5 billion. The company began cutting some 18,000 workers beginning in January. Former CEO Jeff Bezos’ net worth, meanwhile, is still growing by a reported $2.25 billion per week.

“Our second headquarters has always been a multiyear project, and we remain committed to Arlington, Virginia, and the greater Capital Region — which includes investing in affordable housing, funding computer science education in schools across the region, and supporting dozens of local nonprofits,” Amazon Global Real Estate and Facilities VP John Schoettler said in a statement. “We appreciate the support of all our partners and neighbors, and look forward to continuing to work together in the years ahead.”

New Amazon HQ2 gets green light from Arlington County officials

2022-04-27T14:31:00-04:00

Amazon will begin transforming an undeveloped swath of Arlington County into the largest piece of its second corporate headquarters [...] County lawmakers on Saturday unanimously endorsed the expansion of Amazon’s footprint at the 10.4 acre site in Pentagon City, known as PenPlace. Plans include three corporate office buildings, retail pavilions, a futuristic glass Helix, a child-care facility and about 2.75 acres of open space.

Designs for the second phase of Amazon's $2.5 billion Arlington HQ2 campus, including its much-debated tree-covered and helix-shaped centerpiece tower, first appeared on Archinect in February 2021. Updated designs were released by the company and its architect NBBJ later that year.

Previously on Archinect: Amazon updates design for its $2.5 billion headquarters project in Arlington, Virginia

Amazon updates design for its $2.5 billion headquarters project in Arlington, Virginia

2021-11-10T12:25:00-05:00

An updated version of PenPlace, Amazon’s forthcoming suburban DC headquarters dubbed ‘HQ2,’ has been released by the company showcasing a series of design changes that were the result of an eight-month feedback process from the local community in Arlington, Virginia.

The company said they were working to meet the requests of Arlingtonians that will eventually make the new buildings more accessible and architecturally diverse.

Rendering by NBBJ

“We appreciate the ideas and have made changes to enhance the overall connectivity of the site,” an Amazon statement read. “We also incorporated additional sustainable elements and more greenery into the design, and diversified the architecture within PenPlace. These updates make the entire project even better, benefitting our neighbors and all those that will visit HQ2.”

Rendering by NBBJ

The statement detailed changes made to the facades, material, and envelopes of all three buildings, all of which will feature increased biophilic design eleme...

Amazon HQ2 to feature a tree-covered swirling glass tower, 'The Helix'

2021-02-02T16:10:00-05:00

Amazon has unveiled the latest design plans for the second phase of its $2.5 billion Arlington HQ2 campus. The proposal for the PenPlace site includes three 22-story office towers, several smaller buildings, a 250-seat outdoor amphitheater, public green space, and a fourth 350-foot swirling glass tower as the development's centerpiece.

Dubbed The Helix, the tree-covered structure utilizes a similar 'biophilia' concept as the company's The Spheres HQ in Seattle — both designed by NBBJ.

Image courtesy of NBBJ/Amazon.

According to this Amazon project statement, "the Helix at our Arlington headquarters will offer a variety of alternative work environments for Amazon employees amidst lush gardens and flourishing trees native to the region."

Image courtesy of NBBJ/Amazon.

"A true double helix in shape and structure, this unique building will feature two walkable paths of landscaped terrain that will spiral up the outside of the bu...

Not all construction projects are on hold right now

2020-03-31T13:22:00-04:00

Across the country, some state mandates have shut down all nonessential business and request that employees work remotely wherever possible, and shelter-in-place orders have kept people from leaving their homes aside from vital errands. At the same time, even in some of the cities and states with the most stringent shutdowns, construction continues.

A number of US States have ordered all non-essential construction projects to halt in an effort to flatten the curve among workers. But of course, "essential" is a fluent term and interpretations vary from state to state.

Construction Dive took a look at a few ongoing megaprojects and how they managed to keep construction running, including the new HKS-designed NFL SoFi Stadium for the Los Angeles Rams and the Los Angeles Chargers in Inglewood as well as the growing Amazon HQ2 Campus designed by ZGF Architects in Virginia, among others.

Amazon trades $20 million in affordable housing for more FAR in Virginia

2019-11-27T16:00:00-05:00

Amazon is offering $20 million to the Arlington County Affordable Housing Investment Fund in exchange for being allowed to build a bigger headquarters complex in the county than zoning allows. ...it would be the greatest single infusion of money ever into Arlington’s housing fund, which in recent years received between $14 million and $16 million annually from the county government and $5 million to $6 million in loan repayments from developers.

According to The Washington Post, the affordable housing proposal has been long awaited by Arlington residents who worry about the arrival of thousands of well-paid Amazon employees and the higher rents and housing costs that could result.

In exchange for the donation, Amazon hopes to increase the allowable size of its new ZGF Architects-designed HQ. Additionally, the company plans to create 25,000 new jobs and invest $2.5 billion in building its headquarters in the Pentagon City and Crystal City neighborhoods over the next decade, reports The Washington Post.

Huge mixed-use development headed to Amazon HQ2-adjacent site in Virginia

2019-10-11T13:45:00-04:00

JBG Smith, the biggest developer in the D.C. area and landlord of Amazon’s future Northern Virginia headquarters, Tuesday announced that it would redevelop about 2.6 million square feet of space at five multifamily buildings and an office building in Crystal City. The buildings are all within half a mile of the Amazon headquarters site and near Reagan National Airport, representing part of a broader development push in the area now called “National Landing.”

In total, JBG Smith plans to redevelop around 6.9 million square feet at National Landing with a third of that area devoted to office space and the rest developed as residential spaces that could generate between 4,000 and 5,000 dwelling units, as well as ground floor retail, reports Curbed DC.

According to Curbed, National Landing—which includes the cities of Arlington, where Amazon's new, ZGF Architects-designed HQ2 will be located, and Alexandria—has been named the most competitive real-estate market in the U.S.

The Amazon Spheres get reviewed

2019-05-01T11:03:00-04:00

The buildings, which resemble glass jars, preserve an image of Amazon’s supposed benevolence as a company and an image of neoliberal capital as growth, as opposed to absence and austerity... Amazon’s decision to abandon plans for its New York–based HQ2 still fresh in everyone’s mind, it’s hard to see The Spheres as anything but an oversized swear jar brimming with half-hearted promises and watery intensions.

Though the greenhouse is one of the oldest building types, its conflation with the office building types in the 20th century was still regarded as a wondrous spectacle. Kevin Roche's Ford Foundation building, for example, was a marvelous example of the combination of corporate modernism and biphilic design when it was completed in 1967 - so much so, in fact, that it inspired a number of imitators.

Amazon Spheres, by NBBJ.

One such imitator is NBBJ's Amazon Spheres, completed in Seattle, Washington last year. For the Los Angeles Review of Books, Sheila Liming reflects on how the interiors of the famed spheres are designed to appear lush, open and airy to render labor invisible (or, at least, to 'beautify' labor). "While I saw plenty of plants and waterfalls and tropical fish, plus the occasional latte," Liming writes, "I didn’t see a lot of work happening, including the work of tending and maintaining the plants, which must be substantial in order for the space to function and look i...

Five New York-based architecture firms present their alternative visions for Amazon HQ2

2019-03-27T15:10:00-04:00

Last month, Amazon announced that it was canceling its controversial plan to build a second North American headquarters in New York City's Long Island City neighborhood. For residents and activists concerned about gentrification and overcrowding, the decision to abandon the plan was seen as a massive win; for other cities, it was seen as a second chance to woo 25,000 jobs to their region.

Though HQ2 NYC may have been cancelled, Surface Magazine asked five local firms to envision a substitute future. Crosby Studios, Future Green, wHY, INC, and Outpost Office, all put forth proposals that imagined a New York in which Amazon's headquarters not only moved forward, but also addressed significant worries over displacement, provided community-focused investments, and reimagined modern office design.

Inspired by the jungle, Crosby Studios paired a lush landscape with a big glass box that employs the convenience of Amazon's marketplace to provide all necessities once inside. wHY Architectu...

Fuhgeddaboudit: Amazon drops NYC Headquarters plans

2019-02-14T14:35:00-05:00

Amazon on Thursday canceled its plans to build an expansive corporate campus in New York City after facing an unexpectedly fierce backlash from some lawmakers and unions, who contended that a tech giant did not deserve nearly $3 billion in government incentives. The company, as part of its extensive search for a new headquarters, had chosen Long Island City, Queens, as one of two winning sites, saying that it would create more than 25,000 jobs in the city.

Amazon announced the change of course for its hotly contested New York City HQ2 aspirations in a statement this morning:

After much thought and deliberation, we’ve decided not to move forward with our plans to build a headquarters for Amazon in Long Island City, Queens. For Amazon, the commitment to build a new headquarters requires positive, collaborative relationships with state and local elected officials who will be supportive over the long-term. While polls show that 70% of New Yorkers support our plans and investment, a number of state and local politicians have made it clear that they oppose our presence and will not work with us to build the type of relationships that are required to go forward with the project we and many others envisioned in Long Island City.

We are disappointed to have reached this conclusion—we love New York, its incomparable dynamism, people, and culture—and particularly the community of Long Island City, where we have gotten to know so many optimistic, ...

Amazon HQ2 — what else can it offer to NYC?

2018-12-28T16:23:00-05:00

For years, suburbia has offered these companies acres of disposable, cheap, anonymous office parks: mostly one- or two-story concrete structures surrounded by loads of surface parking. These sites minimized costs, maximized security and allowed companies to scale up, contract or split into different units quickly — at the same time they promoted sprawl and traffic jams and transformed once-quaint bedroom communities south of San Francisco into phenomenally expensive places to live.

Even though Amazon's search for its new headquarters' locations has ended all the talks and negotiations about the company's potential impact on the cities it will settle in — New York and Crystal City, Virginia—have only begun.

In ways, the choice comes as no surprise as tech platforms have been attracted to America's wealthy coastal cities, with their established cultures, universities and transit systems, for years. The intensifying expansion of the tech industry amidst urban landscape raises many questions about corporations' powers and rights in a city.

Michael Kimmelman of the NY Times notes that companies like Amazon, through their multi-billion biding process, should offer to satisfy more than just the city's growing need for new jobs. The author suggests options: "As for housing, the city’s regulatory and zoning policies are more responsible for driving up costs than tech companies. But, in an ideal world, Amazon would reverse what it did in Seattle and commit resources ...

How New York won Amazon: See the official proposals for each NYC neighborhood

2018-12-11T20:36:00-05:00

Officials lured Amazon to New York with an extensive pitch, complete with four suggested neighborhoods. In exchange for 25,000 new jobs, Gov. Cuomo and Mayor de Blasio are offering Amazon nearly $3 billion in incentives. And while Amazon selected the Queens neighborhood of Long Island City as its new home, officials had proposed bringing Amazon’s campus to the Farley Building, 3 World Trade Center, Brooklyn Height’s Watchtower building, Bjarke Ingels’ The Spiral, and even Governors Island.

The city as fulfillment center: architects envision New York after Amazon

2018-11-28T14:19:00-05:00

One of ARO’s two concepts shows a huge white building emblazoned with the Amazon logo. [...] It’s a never-ending fulfillment center that the architects dub “Continuous Fulfillment.” According to ARO principals Adam Yarinsky and Stephen Cassell, the idea is an homage to a 1969 concept from the Italian radical architecture firm Superstudio called “The Continuous Monument.” The idea posits that technology will render the built environment uniform, turning buildings into white monoliths.

The billion-dollar cat is out of the bag, and Amazon will soon be ascending on Long Island City, New York and Crystal City/Arlington, Virginia to split its anticipated, tax-incentivized HQ2.

As both regions prepare for the new neighbor to move in, Fast Company asked AIA New York State firm of the year, Architecture Research Office (ARO), to envision an Amazonian New York. The firm provided two (rather dystopian) tongue-in-cheek concepts.

Amazon's HQ2 may be 2 HQs after all

2018-11-06T13:31:00-05:00

After conducting a yearlong search for a second home, Amazon has switched gears and is now finalizing plans to have a total of 50,000 employees in two locations, according to people familiar with the decision-making process. The company is nearing a deal to move to the Long Island City neighborhood of Queens [...]. Amazon is also close to a deal to move to the Crystal City area of Arlington, Va., a Washington suburb, one of the people said.

It looks like Jeff Bezos may have finally found that second home for his online empire—or make that second and third. After narrowing down the list of cities that could be potential new hosts of Amazon's HQ2 in January, the company has been tight-lipped about its final decision. Until yesterday.

These 20 cities successfully flirted their way into Amazon's inner circle, but 18 may be swiped left soon.

The NYT reports that Amazon is in final talks with not just one but two cities to share the pie that had been dangled as irresistibly lucrative carrot in front of local politicians for months now: Long Island City, New York and Crystal City/Arlington, Virginia.

62-acre site along Chicago River to be developed with potential for Amazon's HQ2

2018-05-14T15:13:00-04:00

A hardscrabble half-mile stretch along the Chicago River's South Branch would become a vibrant neighborhood of cutting-edge architecture, parks and a riverwalk in the plans a developer unveiled Thursday for the last big piece of empty land near downtown. Developer Related Midwest plans a transformation of the vacant, relatively isolated 62-acre site into a vibrant neighborhood of homes, restaurants, cultural institutions and businesses...

The currently undeveloped site along Chicago's river has been named "The 78", declaring its scale large enough to add to the city's official number of 77 neighborhoods. The site is also rumored to be a contender for Amazon's HQ2 if the city is chosen, which would require reworking current plans.

Current 62-acre riverfront site in Chicago. Image: Mark Segal/Related Midwest.

Plans for the massive development include 13 million square feet of building space for residential, office, educational and other uses. 12 acres would be dedicated to parkland or public riverwalk with a performance venue. Related Midwest stated that affordable housing was an important part of its housing development.

Rendering of the education hub and riverwalk. Image: Related Midwest.

The new site would also extend three existing city streets through the property to create through routes for bikes. A metro stop would be added to the Red Line, as well as potentially adding a Water Taxi stop.

...

What are the odds: Who will host Amazon's second North American Headquarters

2018-01-23T15:32:00-05:00

Amazon recently released their "shortlist" of 20 cities, whose proposals to host the company's second North American Headquarters have successfully moved forward in the bidding war. Amazon will now spend the next few months diving deeper into each individual offer, no doubt utilizing the spirit of the competition in order to maximize the incentives, subsidies, and other giveaways thrown their way by luring municipalities.

Moving into round two, many are starting to wage bets based off of clues within the shortlist. Richard Florida, an influential urban studies theorist at the University of Toronto, has already put his money on New York, where the company tapped two potential locations (New York City and Newark), and D.C, where they have picked three (D.C, Northern Virginia, and Montgomery County). That said, the popular Irish bookmaker Paddy Power places Atlanta, Georgia at the top of the list, with 2-to-1 odds of winning the bid.

The retail giant has publicly stated that it is l...

Amazon releases short list of 20 cities for its second headquarters

2018-01-18T12:35:00-05:00

Now that it’s down to a final list, Amazon says that it plans to “dive deeper into their proposals” and evaluate whether these locations can actually support the company’s plan to add up to 50,000 jobs. The final list is full of mostly expected choices. Amazon is looking primarily at major metro areas with lots of people, transit options, and access to airports.

Here are the 20 finalists:

Atlanta, Georgia
Austin, Texas
Boston, Massachusetts
Chicago, Illinois
Columbus, Ohio
Dallas, Texas
Denver, Colorado
Indianapolis, Indiana
Los Angeles, California
Miami, Florida
Montgomery County, Maryland
Nashville, Tennessee
Newark, New Jersey
New York City, New York
Northern Virginia, Virginia
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Raleigh, North Carolina
Toronto, Ontario
Washington, DC.

Amazon has reportedly 238 HQ2 proposals to pick from

2017-10-25T13:52:00-04:00

Amazon.com Inc has received 238 proposals from cities and regions across North America vying to host the company’s second headquarters, it said on Monday. The number of applicants underscores the interest in the contest, which Seattle-based Amazon announced last month. The world’s largest online retailer said it would invest more than $5 billion and create up to 50,000 jobs for “Amazon HQ2”. The deadline for submitting proposals was Thursday.

While most cities, counties, and states eager to host Amazon's new 'HQ2' rolled out the expected tax-incentive red carpet, Reuters reports that the Atlanta suburb of Stonecrest pulled out a trick from the ol' autocracy box and offered land to create a new city called, you guessed it, Amazon, while granting CEO Jeff Bezos mayorship for life.

For more about Amazon's HQ2 courtship on Archinect click here.

Christopher Hawthorne: Apple and Amazon's architectural visions "owe nothing to the American city"

2017-09-14T17:58:00-04:00

It has also been remarkable to watch Amazon pursue a dramatically different strategy. Its plans for a second headquarters suggest that in terms of architecture and campus planning it wants to be everything Apple is not. It wants to lean into the city — and thorny questions about gentrification and housing prices, to the extent that they will be a natural byproduct of this process — rather than away from it.

"Though he took a very different path to get there," Hawthorne writes in his LAT opinion piece analyzing Apple & Amazon's lofty headquarters ambitions with a focus on urban integration (or the complete lack thereof), "Bezos ultimately reached the same conclusion Jobs did: that the wealthiest and most powerful tech companies owe nothing to the American city."

The New York Times picks Denver for Amazon's new headquarters

2017-09-11T15:26:00-04:00

Amazon has set off a scrum among cities that are hoping to land the company’s second headquarters — with the winner getting the prize of a $5 billion investment and 50,000 new jobs over the next two decades. (Denver's) lifestyle and affordability, coupled with the supply of tech talent from nearby universities, has already helped build a thriving start-up scene in Denver and Boulder, 40 minutes away.

The New York Times suggests Denver for Amazon new headquarters as it offers a large and growing labour pool, access to universities, high quality of life and enough space to build eight million square feet of office space. If Amazon was to follow the New York Times advice it could drastically change the face of Denver in the next years.