Renders of Google’s gigantic San Jose campus show how it could feel more like a neighborhood

By wazup on October 9, 2020 Comments Closed / 82 views

Renders of Google’s gigantic San Jose campus show how it could feel more like a neighborhood

Google is planning to build a gigantic new “Downtown West” campus in San Jose, and the company has shared renderings that give an idea of what that space could look like (via CNBC). Google intends to make the approximately 79-acre area feel less like a traditional corporate campus by creating a mixed-use development with office space, housing, parks, retail space, and more.

One render is the image we’ve included at the top of this post, which represents something Google is calling the “Gateway.” The proposed space would have a plaza for pop-up events as well as an amphitheater that could be used by both Google and the broader community.

Below is a render for a peaceful-looking area called the Creekside Walk, a walkway near a the VTA light rail corridor which would be “inspired and framed by Los Gatos Creek.” It looks like it could be quite nice to stroll through:

And the “Meander” is something that Google is referring to as an “urban promenade,” an area that would be closed to cars and have a lawn for hosting events, screenings, and other performances.

That all being said, a lot of space would still be reserved for office buildings. While there will be 5,900 residential “dwelling units” and 500,000 gross square feet for things like retail stores, restaurants, and cultural centers, there will be 7.3 million gross square feet of office space, according to Google’s 473-page slide Design Standards and Guidelines deck about the proposed campus.

You can get a better idea of what the whole campus could look like in this map, taken from Google’s nearly 39-minute YouTube video about the plan:

There are also more details about the project on websites from Google and the city of San Jose. The San Jose City Council is scheduled to consider Google’s proposal for final approval in spring 2021.

This isn’t the only ambitious campus Google has in the works. The company announced a $1 billion investment to build a New York City campus in Hudson Square in 2018 and proposed a 40-acre mixed-use area in Mountain View in September.