The complex in the form of three transparent spheres will become a community center and a kind of "green office" of Amazon. Buildings with a total area of 6,000 m2 will accommodate offices, shops, cafes and restaurants, lounge areas and meeting rooms. But the main thing that will distinguish Biodome from the surrounding office skyscrapers is the large number of gardens, where plants from all over the world will be presented. The size of the spheres will make it possible to grow in them not only shrubs and greenhouse plants, but also large trees.
Biodome will be part of Amazon's headquarters, which is slated to be built in downtown Seattle by 2016. The total area of the site acquired by the company for these purposes is more than 2 hectares. NBBJ won the international competition for the best headquarters design last year, proposing to host three 38-storey office towers on the site, which will be connected at ground level by a landscaped park and a network of footpaths.
It was originally planned to place a 6-storey parallelepiped of a public shopping center between the skyscrapers, but in the process of finalizing the project, the architects came up with the idea to create a garden building in its place - a year-round green oasis, which will become not only the hallmark of Amazon, but also a new attraction of downtown Seattle …
A. M.
