The Spruce Goose is a funny nickname for the giant transport aircraft Hughes H-4 Hercules, designed in 1947 by the legendary American aviator Howard Hughes. Contrary to the name, it was not made of spruce at all, but of birch, or rather, birch plywood.
It was considered the largest flying wooden craft with a record wingspan of 98 meters until last year, when the Hercules turned 70 years old, and the American aerospace defense company Orbital ATK presented the Stratolaunch twin-body transport carrier aircraft with a wingspan of 117 meters, and the record was broken .
ZGF has developed a large common space for employees to relax. Courtesy ZGF Architects
The Mastodon itself - as it was also often called - was planned to be used during the Second World War to transfer American soldiers: it could take 750 people on board in full equipment. However, in his history, he made only one flight - two kilometers over the harbor of Los Angeles. Until his death in 1976, its creator kept the plane in working condition, spending about a million dollars annually. Today, the Spruce Goose has found its home at the Evergreen Air and Space Museum in McMinnville.
The new Google office in Los Angeles is a "building within a building" and resembles a wooden ship. Courtesy ZGF Architects
The new office of Google is located in Los Angeles, in the Playa Vista area, where the headquarters of the Hughes Aircraft company used to be. By the way, Ghuza was played by Leonardo DiCaprio in Martin Scorsese's film The Aviator.
The wooden hangar, in which the "Spruce Goose" was collected, was given a second life by the light hand of Google
Under the roof of a seven-story, four-level wooden hangar, ZGF Architects has created a huge open office space for Google. At one time, it was the largest wooden structure, and the authors of the project wanted to preserve it as much as possible, paying tribute to the past associated with the history of aviation.
Architects ZGF and engineers Arup preserved the heritage, leaving the original woodwork and exposed ceiling. Inside, from the timbers of the old hangar, they recreated the building's historic "spine": a series of curved ribs that support the long roof, making the space itself more like an upturned ship's hull. The remaining wood was used for office furniture.
Courtesy ZGF Architects
Until Google brought it to its attention, the nearly 40000-square-meter hangar was mostly empty, although it had previously served as a filming location for Titanic and Avatar. Revitalizing its space, ZGF Architects designed skylights in its roof to increase the amount of daylight. In addition to the actual office space, there are aviation-themed conference rooms, a series of cafes, a fitness center, an event space for 250 people and an aerial staircase: framed in black steel, it runs throughout the gigantic space, connecting first, second and third levels.
Aerial view of the restored hangar "Yalinovy Goose". Courtesy ZGF Architects
A "sculpture of perception" consisting of 2800 suspended steel balls was installed in the central atrium. If you look at it from a certain angle, the contours of the "Spruce Goose" appear in the air. Numerous posters and stands throughout tell about the role of Howard Hughes, the plane and this building in the history of aviation. While Google has about 1000 employees in Los Angeles, it's not yet clear how many of them will work in the Spruce Goose office.
A hanging sculpture made of metal balls in the atrium of Google's new office reproduces the outline of the "Spruce Goose" when viewed from the right angle. Courtesy ZGF Architects
"Los Angeles is the perfect home for Google's newest office," said Mayor Michael Eric Garchetti, who toured the building last weekend. — Our city is a center of innovation, creativity and domestic talent that shaped the aerospace industry in the past, and today it is redefining the technology sector.
Expanding Google's presence in Playa Vista connects a historic building with our dynamic future, a place that will serve as a center of scientific excellence and economic success for years to come."
