YouTube Campus Expansion

The YouTube campus expansion added two new buildings, 1400 and 1450 Bayhill, to the existing YouTube Headquarters. EHDD’s design built on the original site and building design, completed by William McDonough Partners to achieve a vibrant, sustainable workplace.

Our goal was to integrate the client’s brand expression into a bold and unique new identity for the campus, while extending a cohesive and seamless experience that amplified sustainability, wellness, and user experience.

The project’s design includes sustainably sourced mass timber; onsite rainwater collection that aims to divert up to 1.3 million gallons of water each year through its 391,000-gallon rainwater cistern; roof-top solar on both buildings; and a state-of-the-art microgrid. Using sustainably sourced mass timber and low-carbon materials reduced embodied carbon emissions by nearly 22,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, factoring in sequestration.

Built with future users in mind, the project integrates biophilic principles into its naturally lit office, sawtooth roof windows, and automated window shades that control glare and heat gain. The design offers a variety of spaces employees. The team meticulously selected healthy, low-emitting materials that not only meet LEED’s environmental quality standards, but also our client’s goal to deliver a healthy indoor environment.

We used the concept of memes—which are signifiers that spread and evolve over time through commentary, imitation, and reinterpretation—to express features of the local landscape. This created a fun, colorful, vibrant space that amplified brand expression through all layers of the interior design, including graphics, furniture, and art installations.

Custom environmental graphics create a heightened experience at the central “stack” of every neighborhood, where arrival points, shared amenity programs and resources are concentrated. This also supports wayfinding and mental mapping, providing a spatial hierarchy with recognizable design and graphics throughout.