Tech & Social Network Headquarters We ‘Like’

From Facebook to Zoogler headquarters, these tech and social networking offices get our green thumbs up.

The beauty of working for EcoSalon is that we’re truly global. I, for one, file my stories from a cozy casa in southern Spain; you’ll find our EIC Sara Ost usually on a plane or at headquarters in San Francisco, Managing Editor Amy DuFault on Cape Cod, contributor Johanna Björk on the road, and Sex by Numbers columnist Abigail Wick in the heart of Berlin. We literally personify Leonard Cohen’s “First, we take Manhattan, then we take Berlin.”

As such, it’s not very often that we find ourselves pining for regular jobs with regular desks, but these tech headquarters and social network home offices could have us whistling a different tune. The offices herein are not only cool, they’re also green – certainly worthy of a “like” and a “tweet.”

Facebook


What makes it cool?
There’s been much hullabaloo around Facebook’s corporate HQ in Palo Alto’s Stanford Research Park, and for good reason. It was designed by San Francisco’s Studio O+A who interviewed employees to find out what they wanted and what kind of work environment would make them more productive. Employees are encouraged to write on walls and move furniture as they see fit.

What makes it green?
It was the first commercial project completed under Palo Alto’s 2008 Green Building Ordinance. They used recycled and repurposed components of the original facility, and feature energy-efficient lighting and a recycled-content carpet.

Googleplex 

What makes it cool?
In two hundred seconds…

What makes it green?
Ibid.

Zoogler

What makes it cool?
Zooglers refers to Google staff in the EMEA Engineering office in Zurich. I don’t know about your office, but in theirs they’ve got a pool table, reclining chairs, greenery, and a slide.

What makes it green?
Their office is a colorful, collaborative space that is also an adaptive re-use project. Camenzind Evolution took a retired brewery and transformed it into:

Tumblr

What makes it cool?
The (re)blogging platform is breaking with techie tradition and moving to the heart of tobacco country, Richmond, while sticking with the trend of an open, collaborative floor plan.

What makes it green?
Instead of breaking ground anew, the new Tumblr digs are in an old warehouse in a formerly industrial part of downtown Richmond, which is now getting a healthy revamp.

Yelp

 
What makes it cool?
Another Studio O+A creation, it captures the start-up and collaborative techie spirit of Facebook.

What makes it green?
Bike parking for a start. Check out TechCrunch’s walk-through for more.

Skype

What makes it cool?
It epitomizes Stockholm cool. The design is like Skype itself, which ArchDaily described as a “playful happy theme” inspired by Skype’s graphics. The Skype cloud logo is reinterpreted as cloud-shaped lighting, which is found throughout the office.

What makes it green?
Skype’s headquarters are located in a completely repurposed historical building called Münchenbryggeriet. It was originally built as a clothing factory before operating as Sweden’s largest brewery.

 

Images: Office Design Blog; Home-Designing; Cool Hunting

 

K. Emily Bond

K. Emily Bond is the Shelter Editor at EcoSalon and currently resides in southern Spain, reporting on trends in art, design, sustainable living and lifestyle.