ZGF partnered with Google to transform the landmark Spruce Goose Hangar in Playa Vista, California. A 450,000+ SF, four-level “building-within-a-building” was developed inside the seven-story, 750-foot-long historic wooden structure. Built by Howard Hughes in 1943 for the construction of the Hercules IV airplane (aka the “Spruce Goose”), the hangar now comprises office, meeting, food service and event spaces, and employee amenity spaces.
Source: Google, Spruce Goose | ZGF
Douglas fir steps with amphitheater seating ascend from the entry to the cafeteria. Photography by Connie Zhou.
Google and ZGF Architects had already worked together on six projects, but this would be the largest effort that either had ever undertaken in the realm of adaptive reuse. “The outcome was unknown when we embarked on the project,” Google project executive R.G. Kahoe says. “But we knew we could do something amazing, a moon-shot idea, as well as being the correct stewards for the building.”
Source: Google’s New LA Office Takes Flight Thanks to Hangar Transformation by ZGF Architects
Courtesy of Google
As if that weren’t enough to draw your eyes upward, there are several dozen beautiful wooden “glu-lam” arches that climb the walls, which were built in 1943, when the hangar was originally created (the building was used by Howard Hughes to construct the H4 Hercules, known as the “Spruce Goose,” which famously flew only once for less than a minute).
Source: Inside Google’s Playa Vista Offices: Haunted Stairwells, Paper Airplane Pads | Hollywood Reporter
The hangar that used to house the Spruce Goose (Photo by Mike Hume via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr)
The hangar is massive, with an area of 319,000-square-feet. It had to be huge because The Spruce Goose had eight propeller engines and a wingspan longer than a football field, according to The History Channel. Google is expected to use the hangar as an expansion of its L.A. offices. There is no word about a move-in date, or what the company will do with the adjacent land it purchased in 2014.
Source: Google Is Moving Into The Spruce Goose’s Massive Hangar: LAist