At San Francisco Bay, the transportation network company UBER has built its company headquarters, composed of two office buildings for a total of up to 3,000 employees. The glass architecture aims to reflect UBER's open corporate culture.
Gartner has cladded the two 55 m (180 ft) and 33 m (108 ft) high buildings with highly transparent exterior and entrance façades and several skylights. The buildings are connected by two earthquake-proof steel-glass bridges, able to withstand movements of up to 762 mm (30”). A unique feature of the development is the special-purpose solution for the numerous glazed atria which are naturally ventilated via windows (size 4.3 x 3 m / 14 x 10 ft) in the exterior façade. To ventilate the semi-conditioned atrium space inside the external glazed envelope a transparent, steel-framed glazing system featuring motorized bi-fold units was designed. These 162 operable window units are computer-controlled in conjunction with operable skylights to maintain comfortable temperatures and reduce the need for mechanical ventilation. Each window consists of two sashes, each 1.5 m (5 ft) wide, connected by folding hinges, with ultra-clear low-iron laminated safety glass. They make up approx. 20 percent of the glass envelope.
Thanks to natural ventilation and a high degree of daylight utilization, the energy-efficient building envelope makes a significant contribution to the sustainability of the buildings, which are LEED Platinum®.
29,700 sqm (319,700 sq ft) of façade, including unitized aluminum façade, skylights, 162 electrically operable windows, building façade, entrance façade, two bridges.
OWNER: UBER
ARCHITECTS: SHoP Architects / Quezada Architecture
CLIENT: Truebeck Construction
FAÇADE CONSULTANT: Heintges Consulting Architects & Engineers P.C.
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