Inside Google’s $2.1B Office in a Transformed Freight Terminal | WSJ Open Office

Google’s newest office in Manhattan is actually almost a hundred years old. It was built inside of and on top of an old rail terminal. Unlike its Silicon Valley headquarters filled with ping pong tables and nap pods, the tech company’s new office is designed to reflect its new culture—one focused on flexible ways to work.

WSJ took a tour of Google’s St. Johns Terminal in New York City to see what the new integrated workspace looks like.

Chapters:
0:00 Google’s new office
0:47 Exterior and lobby
2:38 Space to meet clients
3:41 Neighborhoods
5:22 Shared workspaces and terraces

Open Office
Offices are as unique as the companies they house. This WSJ series takes viewers inside standout spaces to show the amenities–and quirks–that separate them from the rest, as designers and company executives explain the reason behind it all.

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[konway]

* *moves desk sideways* * look at how flexible and changeable this office is! 😭

[KentGoSuzuki]

Kinda interesting how the comfort area of engineers are a games lounge with a ping pong table and the comfort area of business professionals are seemingly hotel lobbies

[evan]

*moves a desk* wow! How transformative!

[holahola]

"we're mandating back to office because collaboration is key to our success!" - literally every employee on their laptop not talking to anybody throughout the entire video

[jacobharmon]

"I'm the CWO"
"What's a CWO?"
"Chief Watering Officer ... I water the 100 million tiny potted plants on the inside and outside of Google HQ"

[betterchapter]

When you want that airport experience without actually travelling...

[TheHitmanSF]

Dude said, "so this building is longer than it is tall" like its something ground-breaking.

[audiodevout]

Correction - the building is 1.3 million sq feet, not 100 million!

source - google

[Tobberz]

Honestly this just seems like how a good college/university is set up - you can work (study) in cafes, libraries, outside, wherever. That's probably a lot of the inspiration.

[tadmarshall]

I can't work in an open office. The noise and distractions make thought impossible. Looks pretty though.

[porscheoscar]

I worked in this area for 3 years. Everyone who isn't rolling in 8 figure bank account absolutely HATES it. The square footage prices for commercial rent are through the stratosphere so small mom and pop shops can't go anywhere near this. Independent restauranteurs can't touch it with a 10 foot pole. Even some big names couldnt' open up in the Hudson Yards mall without major backing which most didn't get so food options that another major city would be rife with will never happen in this part of NYC. Small shops for groceries definitely not happening. Any gyms are the kind that cost as much a Mercedes payment. Basically the only options for foot traffic visitors are the mega corporations who can afford to run a location at a loss. So it all creates this "gentrified bubble" that is becoming the hallmark of the west side developments. Eventually those inside the bubble get bored of the options and being walled off from the real world. This is going to become a thing in urban planning.

[stachowi]

Now i know why they show a couple extra ads every-time i do anything online... someone has to pay for all of this.

[posthocprior]

If you're curious, 100 million square feet is a square where each side is 3.58 miles (5.76 km). So, this would be roughly 1/10 the size of San Francisco.

[jb]

"This is the meeting room where we decided that a motto like "dont be evil" didn't really represent where we want to go as a company"

[hatoiro_]

What surprised me is that no one was using Chromebook. Almost all laptops in the video were MacBooks.

[RaksoBackwards]

if everyone works on portable laptops, and can meet a client anywhere in the city, then why is any of this necessary?

[michaeltrower]

What a brilliant way to demonstrate the ever-widening gap between the haves and have-nots.

[bluessoul]

This is like a Portlandia episode. People are full of themselves

[ommanipadmehung]

The nature part is the best part of the building by far! Beautiful oasis!

[cal]

5:31 How is sitting like that all day comfortable? Wouldn't traditional desks be better?