YouTube Campus Expansion

YouTube expanded its climate-conscious headquarters with two office additions—1400 and 1450 Bayhill. As a combination of mass timber, steel, and concrete construction, these buildings continue the sustainability conversation sparked by their on-campus neighbor: a 1997 steel and concrete edifice also designed by William McDonough+ Partners and among California’s most energy-efficient offices.

The design vision embraced McDonough’s Cradle-to-Cradle philosophy while propelling 1400 and 1450 Bayhill toward obtaining LEED Platinum certification. In alignment with that philosophy, Holmes designed every structural component for disassembly: all bolted braced frame connections and glulam beam to column connections are deconstructable and floor panels are connected with removable screws. As programming and site needs evolve, so too can the structures.

Engaged since site planning, Holmes provided structural and fire engineering on the project. The Holmes team supported the sustainability vision by advocating for low-carbon materials within high-performance systems, using the fewest resources necessary to plant the buildings on campus. For the superstructure, Holmes harnessed the capacity of Forest Stewardship Council-certified mass timber in atypical geometries to achieve the building form. Untopped cross laminated timber (CLT) diaphragms form the undulating and sawtooth rooflines, achieving building permits through a rigorous alternate means and methods approval process that became the basis of the Woodworks CLT design guide authored by Holmes engineers.

Holmes’ fire engineers facilitated compliance for the innovative, non-prescriptive elements, such as embedding lateral steel braces within timber, floor penetrations, edge-of-slab detailing, and the fire protection strategy for raised access floors (a hallmark of flexible workspace). Through early and consistent communication with the City, Holmes ensured that these mass timber designs got built.

The project team estimates that using sustainably-sourced mass timber and other low-carbon materials reduced the building’s embodied carbon emissions by nearly 22,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent. Holmes also slashed concrete emissions, eliminating the need for roof and floor structural topping slabs and minimizing cementitious materials in the foundations and podium. Holmes specified sustainable concrete mix designs utilizing concrete carbon sequestration software.

Additional sustainable efficiencies include onsite solar and rainwater harvesting. Highly intentional structural engineering frames a thriving ecosystem of plants, pollinators, and people with a monarch butterfly-focused garden rooted in native flora alongside meandering oak groves. The YouTube Campus Expansion is humbly poised to return to the industry and the earth—all within the regenerative cycle of living and building.