The second phase of Amazon’s headquarters complex in Arlington, Va., will be a 2.8-million-sf campus with three 22-story buildings that target LEED Platinum certification.
The Phase 2 site, called PenPlace, will be anchored by The Helix, a 370,000-sf spiral shaped building that, according to Amazon, will feature indoor garden spaces, an Artist in Residence program, a 1,500-person meeting center, and an outdoor hill climb open to the public on select weekends every month. (SCAPE is PenPlace’s landscape architect.)
Amazon sent its latest designs to the Arlington County Board on Tuesday. If the plans are approved, ground breaking for PenPlace could be early next year, with delivery scheduled for 2025.
Amazon—which in 2019 faced community opposition to its plans to build a headquarters complex in the New York City borough of Queens—is proactively presenting itself to Arlington residents as a friend of the community and a corporate citizen. The tech giant has donated more than $19 million to local nonprofits, and recently announced a $2 billion Housing Equity Fund whose starting investment will be to create more than 1,300 affordable homes in Arlington’s Crystal City neighborhood, where PenPlace would be built.
A dog park will be one of the community amenities that Amazon's headquarters will offer.
The proposed design for PenPlace includes:
•2.5-plus acres of public open space and connected walkways, a dog run, a 250-seat amphitheater, woodlands, and art installations;
•Over 950 onsite bike spaces, including 180 for visitors. There will be one-quarter mile of new protected bike lanes;
•100,000 sf for retail pavilions, walkways, and space for a dozen local dealers and eateries;
•A child-care center;
•A plaza that supports farmers markets and food vendors; and
•A 20,000-sf community space that supports education, science, and technology, and is flexible enough to accommodate small and large meetings and classes.
PenPlace’s sustainable features include an onsite water reclamation system for reducing cooling, irrigation, and flushing demand by 50%. Site-wide landscape will integrate and clean 100% of the complex’s rainfall runoff.
The project will include an all-electric central heating and cooling system that runs on 100% renewable energy from a solar farm in southern Virginia. (Amazon has pledged to be net-carbon-neutral as a company by 2040.)
PenPlace will include 100,000 sf for local retail tenants and a pavilion.
GEOMETRY IN ACTION
Amazon’s headquarters in Seattle is distinguished by The Spheres, ball-shaped workplaces that are also home to over 30,000 plants from 30-plus countries. Amazon is looking to achieve a similar connection with nature for its Arlington workers via The Helix, which will offer a variety of alternative work environments. (Whiting-Turner Construction is PenPlace’s contractor.)
The Helix will have two walkable paths of landscaped terrain that spiral the outside of the buildings and feature plants familiar to hikers of Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains.
As at The Spheres, Amazon plans to offer public tours of The Helix several weekends a month.
A MULTI-BILLION INVESTMENT
Once completed, Amazon's Arlington headquarters will distribute 850,000 sf of office space over five buildings.
PenPlace would be north of where Amazon is building Metropolitan Park, a 2.1-milllion-sf mixed-use project. The first phase includes two 22-story towers, as well as some renovated office space.
Metropolitan Park—designed by ZGF Architects, with Clark Construction as its builder and James Corner Field Operations as its landscape designer—is scheduled to start opening in 2023, John Schoettler, Amazon’s Vice President of Global Real Estate Facilities, told WUSA9. Amazon states that Metropolitan Park will have 500 bike spaces, over 2.5 acres of new and renovated park space, 69,000 sf of ground-floor retail and a 700-person meeting center available to the public.
Amazon’s initial investment in its headquarters plans has been $2.5 billion. All told, Amazon intends to have 850,000 sf of office space for 25,000 employees in Arlington, Va., by mid-decade.
Related Stories
Sustainability | Aug 15, 2023
Carbon management platform offers free carbon emissions assessment for NYC buildings
nZero, developer of a real-time carbon accounting and management platform, is offering free carbon emissions assessments for buildings in New York City. The offer is intended to help building owners prepare for the city’s upcoming Local Law 97 reporting requirements and compliance. This law will soon assess monetary fines for buildings with emissions that are in non-compliance.
Office Buildings | Aug 15, 2023
Amount of office space in U.S. is declining for the first time, says JLL
In what is likely a historic first, the amount of office space in the U.S. is forecast to decline in 2023, according to Jones Lang LaSalle. This would be the first net decline according to data going back to 2000, JLL says, and it’s likely the first decline ever.
Office Buildings | Aug 14, 2023
The programmatic evolution of the lobby
Ian Reves, Managing Director for IA's Atlanta studio, shares how design can shape a lobby into an office mainstay.
Office Buildings | Aug 10, 2023
Bjarke Ingels Group and Skanska to deliver 1550 on the Green, one of the most sustainable buildings in Texas
In downtown Houston, Skanska USA’s 1550 on the Green, a 28-story, 375,000-sf office tower, aims to be one of Texas’ most sustainable buildings. The $225 million project has deployed various sustainable building materials, such as less carbon-intensive cement, to target 60% reduced embodied carbon.
Government Buildings | Aug 7, 2023
Nearly $1 billion earmarked for energy efficiency upgrades to federal buildings
The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) recently announced plans to use $975 million in Inflation Reduction Act funding for energy efficiency and clean energy upgrades to federal buildings across the country. The investment will impact about 40 million sf, or about 20% of GSA’s federal buildings portfolio.
Market Data | Aug 1, 2023
Nonresidential construction spending increases slightly in June
National nonresidential construction spending increased 0.1% in June, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of data published today by the U.S. Census Bureau. Spending is up 18% over the past 12 months. On a seasonally adjusted annualized basis, nonresidential spending totaled $1.07 trillion in June.
Office Buildings | Aug 1, 2023
Creating a nurturing environment: The value of a mother’s room in the workplace
Since becoming an architect, Rebecca Martin of Design Collaborative has drawn a mother’s room into numerous projects. But it wasn't until she became a mom that she fully appreciated their importance in the workspace.
Adaptive Reuse | Jul 27, 2023
Number of U.S. adaptive reuse projects jumps to 122,000 from 77,000
The number of adaptive reuse projects in the pipeline grew to a record 122,000 in 2023 from 77,000 registered last year, according to RentCafe’s annual Adaptive Reuse Report. Of the 122,000 apartments currently undergoing conversion, 45,000 are the result of office repurposing, representing 37% of the total, followed by hotels (23% of future projects).
High-rise Construction | Jul 26, 2023
A 33-story Singapore tower aims to reimagine work with restorative, outdoor spaces
Architecture firm NBBJ has unveiled design details for Keppel South Central, a commercial tower in Singapore. The project, which is slated for completion in late 2024, will transform the original Keppel Towers into a 33-story, energy-efficient building that aims to reimagine work by providing restorative spaces and connections to the outdoors.
Multifamily Housing | Jul 25, 2023
San Francisco seeks proposals for adaptive reuse of underutilized downtown office buildings
The City of San Francisco released a Request For Interest to identify office building conversions that city officials could help expedite with zoning changes, regulatory measures, and financial incentives.
