FX.co ★ Waterfalls and tropics: Amazon opens new office

It took seven years to construct such a massive complex. The biggest sphere is 90 feet (27.4 meters) in height and 130 feet (39.6 meters) widthwise.

About 40,000 plants grow inside the three spheres. The building can place up to 800 people. Amazon employees can take a break and rest in green zones or discuss some work issues in special conference halls that are called nests.

Jeff Bezos was offered two pictures at the presentation of the project three years ago. The first picture showed a small tree in front of a 9-meter bridge, while the second one depicted the same tree after five years, and it was much bigger. The Amazon founder did not want to wait five years for the tree to grow, so he asked to find a better solution, fitting five years into one day. It became the slogan of the project.

Bezos founded his business 24 years ago, and all this time he has been sticking to the principle “It's always day one”. Thus, the new office in Seattle was called Day One. Probably, this mantra helped the Amazon CEO to achieve huge success – his company employs 540,000 people all over the world and its revenue is estimated at $180 million. But when you start to build a greenhouse with 40,000 plant species in it, you are bound to see a barren wasteland on the day one. This is why the team of florists, architects and builders upgraded Bezos's slogan to “day one is the year five”.

The most difficult part of the construction process was to transport and mount a giant tree nicknamed Rubi inside the sphere. It was shipped from South California where it had been growing since 1969. The tree is 55 feet (16.8 meters) in height and weighs 16,500 kilograms. “We realized we had to finish the sphere, take part of it back apart, drop the tree in and then put it back together again,” David Sadinsky, an architect of the project, said.

Wi-Fi is available inside the spheres, and the management plans to provide the company's employees with special ID badges that will track their movements. Thus, the management will spot shirkers at once.

Waterfall sounds and gentle tropical wind help workers take their mind off reports, deadlines, emails and meetings.

The leisure room is located at the top of the sphere.

The average temperature in the building is 22 °C and the humidity is 60%. At the same time, an employee can find more comfortable climate as it changes depending on the zone.

There is a green wall with a height of five-story house that consists of green cascades of plants in the spheres.

John Schoettler, a director of the real estate division, thinks that he unusual building will attract new employees. He said that candidates interviewed in the spheres will leave the building with the impression that Amazon is a forward-looking company.