Google held a ribbon cutting ceremony Wednesday to celebrate the opening of its New York headquarters in the expanded 1.3-million-square-foot St. John’s Terminal building at 550 Washington Street in Hudson Square, Manhattan. Designed by COOKFOX Architects and developed by Oxford Properties, the 12-story project involved the adaptive reuse of a 90-year-old former freight terminal, and serves as the centerpiece of the 1.7-million-square-foot Googleplex master plan along with 315 Hudson Street and 345 Hudson Street. Gensler was the interior designer, Future Green Studio Corp. was the landscape designer, Gilsanz Murray Steficek LLP was the structural engineer, and Structure Tone and Turner Construction were joint general contractors for the structure, which stands 232 feet tall and spans two full city blocks bound by West Street, West Houston Street, Washington Street, and the New York Department of Sanitation building.
Finishing touches have concluded on the northern elevation facing Houston Street since our last update last April, including the addition of Google signage over the concrete-encased I-beams that once supported elevated railway tracks. All construction barriers have been removed from the main entrance, which is surrounded by cascading garden beds, large rocks, staircases, and ADA-accessible pathways.
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
The ceremony was attended by guests including Governor Kathy Hochul, Assembly Speaker Carl E. Heastie, Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine, and Sean Downey, Google’s president of Americas and global business.
Governor Kathy Hochul. Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
“You’re going to take a property that for decades people just ignored or went past and never saw a future in. But you did,” said Governor Hochul. “That’s the genius of Google. Seeing possibilities where others are not able.”
Google purchased the building in December 2018 and pledged to double the number of its employees in New York over the next ten years. As of now, Google has exceeded that goal in half the time with more than 14,000 full-time employees based in the city.
St. John’s Terminal was designed to hold over 3,000 Google employees, who will be treated to panoramic views of the Midtown skyline to the north, the Lower Manhattan skyline to the south, and the Hudson River to the west.
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
The headquarters contains a two-story events hub with a connecting terrace space, multiple gathering areas, breakout rooms, a Great Hall with a coffee bar on the ground level, a central staircase cutting diagonally throughout the structure, two auditorium spaces called The Garage and The Bandshell, interactive art displays, and a gift shop.
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Google’s headquarters was designed with sustainability in mind, beginning with the adaptive reuse of St. John’s Terminal, through which the company claims it avoided 78,400 metric tons of carbon dioxide that would have been emitted from a ground-up project of this scale. During the building process, 77 percent of construction waste was also diverted from landfills. The project has achieved LEED v4 Platinum Certification for its core and shell development and is pursuing LEED v4 Platinum Certification for its interiors.
Other sustainable features include on-site solar arrays with an expected generation capacity of nearly 100 kilowatts, a rainwater retention system with a capacity of 92,000 gallons, roughly 1.5 acres of greenery with 95 percent New York State-native species, and over 500 bike parking spaces.
The nearest subways from the property are the 1 train at the Houston Street station and the C and E trains at Spring Street. Across West Street is Hudson River Park, and the Holland Tunnel can be accessed to the south by Canal Street.
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Very nice. Hopefully Google will move a lot of their employees to New York.
Gorgeous space. How lucky for the Google workers to work here. Someone needs to tell our Governor how to dress.
Stop being “catty”
Meow!!
It look great from the inside and outside love it 🙂
Michael-
As the proud developer of St John’s, we’d like to thank you for your coverage of this historic project. Your stunning photos and accurate description has helped us chronicle this amazing journey.
All the best,
The Oxford team
Oh my god what a transformation! Love the landscaping and interiors and lovely photos by Mr. Young ❤️
Great addition to Hudson Square (along with Disney NYC Headquarter)
It’s great to see beautiful office space like this still being built. What a nice looking building.
Kudos to Google for undertaking this terrific project!
Was nice to see this building rise over the past few years while riding my bike up and down Hudson River park.
The thematic consistency is wonderful! Like when you visit a FLW building, everything is conceptually integrated! Bravo, Google!
Google is bold and energetic, I only saw it on the big screen but that looks beautiful: Thanks to Michael Young.
Great re-use ! It’s what keeps New York special.