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COVID-19 Vaccination in the United States of America (to June 2021)

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Amazon Spheres

The Amazon Spheres are three spherical conservatories comprising part of the Amazon headquarters campus in Seattle, Washington, United States. Designed by NBBJ and landscape firm Site Workshop, its three glass domes are covered in pentagonal hexecontahedron panels and serve as an employee lounge and workspace. The spheres, which range from three to four stories tall, house 40,000 plants, as well as meeting space and retail stores. They are located adjoining the Day 1 building on Lenora Street. The complex opened to Amazon employees and limited public access on January 30, 2018. The spheres are reserved mainly for Amazon employees, but are open to the public through weekly headquarters tours and an exhibit on the ground floor.

Design

The spheres are located along Lenora Street between 6th and 7th Avenues, under Day 1 in Amazon’s Seattle headquarters campus. The three intersecting spherical domes range from 80 to 95 feet (24 to 29 m) in height and take up half of a city block. They use over 2,600 panes of glass and 620 short tons (560 t) of steel, arranged with five-sided panels of a pentagonal hexecontahedron.

The largest sphere, in the center, is four stories tall and has 3,225 square feet (299.6 m²) of space; it houses the cafeteria, stairway, elevators, and bathrooms. The stairwell shaft is covered by a four-story “living wall” with 25,000 plants, including carnivorous species from Asia. The spheres have meeting spaces, tables, and benches that can seat a total of 800 people.

The complex, nicknamed “Bezos’ balls” by the media, has become a recognizable landmark and tourist attraction for the Denny Triangle area since the beginning of its construction. The structure has been compared to the city’s iconic Space Needle, built as a futuristic landmark for the Century 21 Exposition in 1962. It was designed with influences from biophilic design, incorporating nature into the built environment.

Source: Wikipedia