Google Plans New Headquarters, and a City Fears Being Overrun [View all]

[KamaAina]

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/26/technology/google-plans-new-headquarters-and-a-city-fears-being-overrun.html

Apple is moving into Silicon Valley headquarters that look like a spaceship. Facebook is expanding its campus with a new building designed by Frank Gehry. Now it’s Google’s turn.

This week, Google, the search giant, is expected to propose new headquarters — a series of canopylike buildings from Heatherwick Studio, a London design firm known for works like the fiery caldron at the 2012 Olympics, and Bjarke Ingels, a Danish architect known for his innovative designs.

The project in Mountain View, which Google has not made public but has discussed with members of the City Council, is likely to aggravate an increasingly testy relationship between the company and community leaders who fear the company is overrunning their small city....

Even if Google’s proposal is accepted, the city’s most divisive issue — how much new housing to build and where — has yet to be settled. Google executives have said on several occasions that they want to add housing to North Bayshore, but Mountain View’s outgoing City Council found many reasons to say no.