Project Commissioner
Project Creator
Project Context
The Spheres—the newest buildings on Amazon’s campus in downtown Seattle—have no enclosed offices, conference spaces, or desks, and employees can meet in treehouses suspended under 40+ foot trees or in sitting areas and walking paths alongside cascading waterfalls
Plants, trees, sunlight, soil, and water take center stage – the sound of running water and the scent of flowering plants create an instant botanical immersion that takes visitors far away from the urban landscape
The project created more than 600 full-time jobs, and is part of Amazon’s more than $4 billion investment in the design, development, and construction of its Seattle HQ.
The Spheres will be open to provide educational opportunities to the Seattle community through tours, field trips and partnerships with local schools and universities. Studies suggest that spaces that embrace biophilic design can inspire creativity and even improve brain function. With thousands of plants in a variety of natural spaces, The Spheres will provide an immersive and interesting experience to Amazonians and visitors.
Project Innovation
Amazon is committed to sharing the beauty and biodiversity inside The Spheres with the public, and will provide educational opportunities to the Seattle community through tours, field trips and partnerships with local schools and universities. The Spheres also include a visitor center – called The Understory – that is open to the public year round. The Understory provides a fully immersive, 360-degree experience where visitors can get up close and personal with the science, engineering, and plants behind The Spheres.
Sustainability
The Spheres feature treehouse meeting rooms, river and waterfall features, paludariums, a four-story living wall, and epiphytic trees. They are home to more than 400 species spanning five continents and 50 countries, and many of the plants have journeyed from botanical gardens, tree nurseries, and conservation programs from around the globe.
Many of the plants inside The Spheres are from cloud forest ecosystems, where plants thrive on mountainsides at an altitude ranging from 3,000 to 10,000 feet. Plants in these ecosystems have adapted to cooler temperatures, which makes their climate needs comfortable for people, too.
Commercial - Space
Commercial projects recognises that design is the means to create meaningful experiences for users, create value for people and drive profit for businesses.
The space category celebrates the design process and outcomes of planning, designing and constructing form, space and ambience that reflect functional, technical, social, and aesthetic considerations. It includes architecture, interior design and landscape design as well as set display and exhibition design.
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