Google: the tech company that has become an omnipresent force in our lives. So much so that long ago, the outgrown genesis and focus as the top search engine is afterthoughts. For the average New Yorker, the fact it’s had a physical presence here in the city for over twenty years is also. It recently welcomed thousands of employees to its new space in Hudson Square. But because of this ubiety, we rarely ponder Google’s need for physical locations. So what’s St. John’s Terminal, and why is it there? What goes on there?
St. John’s Terminal, 550 Washington St, New York, NY 10282. The new headquarters for Google’s Global Business Organization, including sales and partnership teams. (Wait, it’s what?) Call it the company’s “innovating at scale” division. (I’ll keep reading as if I know what that means also.) In simple terms, the implementing creative ideas for sustainable growth department. It’s giving PowerPoint presentation-talk energy, right? To some, this might all read like stuff people who wear suits say to packed boardrooms. But that is a part of what goes on at Google’s St John’s Terminal. Only Google has a particular way of doing so, through laid-back yet expensive praxis.
Google’s archetypal office building designs might seem costly and whimsical. But to the contrary, research-backed data goes into each location. Around the globe, they have the same distinct core goals. That is distraction-free concentration. Collaboration and productive meetings. Community building or sparking innovation. When Google creates or sometimes repurposes these existing buildings, there are must-haves. Like open plenums, “exposed structures.” High ceilings and lots of natural light.
Craig Nevill-Manning once explained the psychology behind this to the New York Times. Back when the New Zealand native first relocated here as Google’s engineering director. Googlers in the city inherited their informal work environment from Silicon Valley. Casual dress and flexible hours. And adapted it for our “East Coast urban environment.” Another employee, Allison Mooney, mentions that the difference is “night and day.” Comparing Google to her previous employer. A place she said, work went on 24/7, answering every e-mail, even nights and weekends. At Google, she did not have to show or act like she was working, she continued. And the culture is to “shut down on weekends. People have a life.”
They were talking about 111 Eighth Avenue. It’s in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan. Google repurposed the former Port Authority shipping complex into its East Coast headquarters. There, the focus is engineering, product, and business operations. Search, Ads, Maps, YouTube, Cloud, Technical Infrastructure, Sales and Research. Complimentary eyebrow shaping, yoga, and Pilates classes were example perks. Wharton professor taught courses in advanced negotiation. An appearance and talk with novelist Toni Morrison. Or Justin Bieber interviews live on-site with Jimmy Fallon.
Today, Google continues to thrive as a disrupting innovator. It’s much in part by analyzing the sources of its ideas, growth, and future possibilities. Another is creating inspiring and fulfilling workspaces. In return, people who work there are more creative and productive. Cities, inhabitants, and their relationship with technology evolve with this. And Google adapts to the behaviors and preferences of these locally-tapped ideas. The employees and partners. The billions worldwide that use Google’s products and services. Even those unaware of their own contradictory automation biases. They likely rely on a Google product or service for their very criticisms of it. Around the Hudson Square neighborhood, for others, it may be as simple as sheer curiosity. But it all will start with a search, “What’s that Google building on Washington for?” And this is what Google innovating at scale looks like—through expensive praxis.
Thus, the $2.1 billion building that is part of Google’s ambitious 1.7-million-square-foot “Googleplex.” Its primary location for its New York-based Global Business Organization. Along with 315 and 345 Hudson Street, St. John’s Terminal will make up Google’s Hudson Square campus. In particular, it’s opening its doors to 3000 new Googlers. Its freshest “New York-based” computer science and creative branding minds.
Not only are its ideas from local minds but St. John’s Terminal architects and designers were, too. With COOKFOX, Google converted a historic city building into a biophilic, high-performance workspace. Its lead interior architect and design are by Gensler, and its landscaping is by Future Green. Toronto-based Oxford Properties developed the project. The multinational corporation also owns Hudson Yards. Collaborating with many others, they actualized Google’s vision of its trademark urbanism. For St. John’s Terminal, that meant transforming its industrial heritage into futuristic utility.
And it wasn’t the tech giant’s first time being up for such a challenge.
