Google's new Tel Aviv headquarters include a meeting area filled with orange trees, workstations on a make-believe beach and slides connecting different floors (+ slideshow).
Swiss designers Camenzind Evolution completed the project in collaboration with Israeli studios Studio Yaron Tal and Setter Architects.
The offices occupy seven floors of the Electra Tower, one of the tallest skyscrapers in the Israeli city, and were designed as a series of informal workspaces intended to encourage communication and collaboration.
Every area is themed, but each one is based on a scene found somewhere in Israel. Some of the corridors appear as narrow cobbled streets, complete with arched windows and flower boxes, while the reception area is an undulating timber landscape reminiscent of the public spaces at Tel Aviv's port.
Fake grass covers the floor and seating in one room. Another contains surfboards that reference the city's growing surfer culture.
"Each floor was designed with a different aspect of the local identity in mind, illustrating the diversity of Israel as a country and nation," say the designers.
Other unusual spaces include a meeting area surrounded by climbing plants, rooms resembling converted warehouses and space modelled on a desert landscape.
One floor is assigned as a Google Campus, a shared workplace for startup technology companies modelled on one that opened last year in London.
Google frequently works with designers to develop wacky concepts for its offices and the latest London headquarters includes Union Jack flags and vegetable allotments. The internet company also recently revealed images of its data centres, which feature primary-coloured pipework and cooling rooms that glow green. See more stories about Google.
Other offices designed for well-known technology firms include a campus for Adobe in Utah and offices for Microsoft in Vienna, which also include a slide. See more stories about technology companies or see more stories about buildings with slides.
Photography is by Itay Sikolski.
Here's some more information from Camenzind Evolution:
Amazingly inspiring new work environment for Google in Tel Aviv
At the end of December 2012, Google Israel has opened its spectacular new 8’000 m2 offices in Tel Aviv for their ever growing teams of engineers, sales and marketing.
Designed by Swiss Design Team Camenzind Evolution, in collaboration with Israeli Design Teams Setter Architects and Studio Yaron Tal, the new Google office now occupies 8 floors in the prestigious Electra Tower in Central Tel Aviv, with breath taking views across the whole city and the sea.
It is a new milestone for Google in the development of innovative work environments: nearly 50% of all areas have been allocated to create communication landscapes, giving countless opportunities to employees to collaborate and communicate with other Googler’s in a diverse environment that will serve all different requirements and needs.
There is clear separation between the employees traditional desk based work environment and those communication areas, granting privacy and focus when required for desk based individual working and spaces for collaboration and sharing ideas.
Each floor was designed with a different aspect of the local identity in mind, illustrating the diversity of Israel as a country and nation. Each of the themes were selected by a local group of Googlers, who also assisted in the interpretation of those chosen ideas.
Being in Israel, for lunch the Googlers can choose from three amazing restaurants, non-kosher, kosher dairy and kosher meat, each of the restaurants designed to it’s own style and theme.
Only 7 of the 8 rented floors in Electra Tower are actually occupied by Google. The remaining floor gives space to a new ‘Campus’, which was also opened in December by the Israeli Prime Minister. The ‘Campus Tel Aviv’, powered by Google for Entrepreneurs, is a new hub for entrepreneurs and developers, providing a base for start-up companies, and is only the second Google ‘Campus’ worldwide.
Sustainability played a vital role to Google in the development of their new Tel Aviv offices and the project is currently awaiting LEED ‘Platinum’ certification, the first of its category in Israel.
