Three New Headquarters Open With No Expenses Spared

Amazon’s decision to begin the bidding process for their second headquarters has kicked off a frenzy of excitement in cities across the country. The actual location choice, however, won’t be made for quite some time, and construction could take years. So while we have to wait in anticipation to see what the finished Amazon 2 campus will look like, there are still plenty of architecturally brilliant headquarters officially opening this year.

APPLE

Apple Park, the new $5 billion headquarters of the tech giant, officially opened in April of this year in Cupertino, CA. While the main building, known as the “spaceship,” cost almost half a billion dollars to build, there are many other elements with eye-popping price tags. The fitness center alone, for example, cost $16 million. It’s also unique in that the headquarters’ 805,000 square feet of solar panels means the campus runs on 100% renewable energy. You may be curious, since your office may not quite have the same features. You can stop by and peruse the campus’ visitor center, which cost just over $100 million to build.

NVIDIA

Internationally lauded architectural firm Gensler built Nvidia’s new “Endeavour” HQ. The project is designed with the triangle at its heart, reflecting the essential element of computer graphics. The 500,000 sq. ft. building will house 2500 employees and incorporates an open environment theme. This Santa Clara, CA structure is an absolute beauty to behold.

TOYOTA

Rounding out our list is the new Plano, TX headquarters of Toyota North America. While the architectural design is certainly aesthetically pleasing, this campus really shines for its dedication to being green. The campus produces enough energy to power the equivalent of 1200 homes each year, can harvest 400,000 gallons of rainwater, and utilizes green spaces that reflect and embrace the natural habitat surrounding the campus. Because of these elements, the campus received the highest level of LEED certification from the U.S. Green Building Council.

While we’re sure that wherever Amazon chooses to build its second home, it will be an architectural beauty, it’s nice to see that the bar is set pretty high for big-budget headquarters. There’s significant pressure with designing a space that represents your company’s culture, and we’re glad to see that Toyota, Nvidia, and Apple managed to pull it off in spectacular style.