Images courtesy of NBBJ Studios.

The newest office development planned for downtown Seattle will be breaking ground this June, impressing many with its innovative concept of integrating traditional offices with biospheres and public grounds. The culprit responsible for this new office complex is Amazon.com, and the design, currently tracking LEED Gold status, has been executed by global design firm NBBJ.

Three high-rise towers will be contained within Amazon’s conceived biospheres, with the office complex located in the central Denny Triangle neighborhood. The focus is stated as leaning towards building a valuable addition to the neighborhood, as opposed to solely a business campus. Ground level retail space is intended to seamlessly integrate the biospheres into the  surrounding environment. Apart from the retail space, a play field and a dog park will encourage public use of the Amazon office grounds. When considering added value to the retail spaces in Denny Triangle, the Amazon offices promise greater foot traffic which can significantly benefit local businesses like restaurants or nearby shops.

The attention that has been dedicated to developing the ground level of the Amazon offices emphasizes the importance of developing a relationship between the company’s buildings and the city at large; instead of alienating the offices and the workers from the cultural life of the city, the offices actually contribute to the cultural and economic value of the three blocks on which the Amazon complex will be built.

NBBJ is known for implementing an incredibly cross-disciplinary approach to its project development by developing according to professional opinions and research from disciplines as seemingly autonomous from architecture as anthropology and nursing. This is all with the intent of creating buildings that both highly sustainable and productive.

In terms of creative urban development, the Amazon biospheres signal an increasing normalization of organic working environments, and places a stronger emphasis on the integration of plant-life in urban centers. With the global prominence of the Amazon company, the design for the new Seattle offices has the potential to influence architectural trends towards a collective rethinking of office standards.

At the same time, the intent is to experiment with how working spaces and community spaces can be integrated with evolving urban centers stimulating an urban development that is less individualistic and more collective. The biospheres will no doubt address both important psychological factors and mentalities that were not adequately addressed with traditional office architecture. The creative approach of NBBJ to Amazon’s office infrastructure is relevant to shifting perspectives and can inspire continuing change within urban environments.

What do you think about the NBBJ biospheres for Amazon?