Day 1 (building)

Day 1, also known as Amazon Tower II and Rufus 2.0 Block 19,[7] is a 521-foot-tall (159 m) office building in the Denny Triangle neighborhood of Seattle, Washington, located at the intersection of Lenora Street and 7th Avenue.[6] It is part of the three-tower complex that serves as the headquarters of Amazon. The name "Day 1" previously belonged to two buildings on Amazon's South Lake Union campus, but both structures have since been renamed. The building's east facade features a large sign reading "Hello World".[8] The construction project was the most expensive in the city to finish in 2016 amidst the recent downtown housing boom.[2]

Day 1
Location within downtown Seattle
Alternative names	Amazon Tower II Rufus 2.0 Block 19
General information
Status	Complete
Type	Office building
Address	2121 7th Avenue Seattle, Washington, U.S.
Coordinates	47.615868°N 122.339850°W
Construction started	2014
Topped-out	December 4, 2015[1]
Opened	November 7, 2016
Cost	$250 million[2]
Owner	Amazon
Height
Roof	521 feet (159 m)
Technical details
Floor count	37
Floor area	1,485,500 sq ft (138,010 m^2)
Design and construction
Architecture firm	NBBJ
Main contractor	Sellen Construction
References
[3][4][5][6]

The building also houses the prototype Amazon Go location, which opened to a private beta in December 2016[9] and to the general public on January 22, 2018.[10]

Design and construction

The Amazon campus, designed by Seattle architecture firm NBBJ and landscape architecture firm Site Workshop,[11][12] was approved by the Seattle Department of Planning and Development in late 2012. Excavation on the 37-story Tower II began under the direction of Sellen Construction in 2014.[13] It opened on November 7, 2016.[14] The project, covering the entire three-block campus, is also on track to receive LEED Gold certification.[11][15]

Spheres

The block also features three intersecting 80-to-90-foot-tall (24 to 27 m) glass-and-steel spheres facing Lenora Street that will house five stories of additional work space for 1,800 employees and retail, totaling 65,000 square feet (6,000 m²).[16][17][18] NBBJ intends the spheres to be the "new visual focus and 'heart'"[19] of Amazon's headquarters. The design was showcased by Amazon in 2013, thereby scrapping an earlier plan intending to construct a six-story rectilinear office building in that same location. The architects behind the organic design of the domes relied on the idea that better productivity can be initiated by introducing more sunlight and plants into the work space according to recent research.[19]

When revealed in 2013, the planned design for the spheres, separated from the building by a lawn and dog park,[20] was generally met with support and earned the project international press coverage.[21][22][23] One of the few critics included Seattle city design review board member Mathew Albores, who compared its pedestrian hostility to the EMP Museum, offering no rain protection and little retail.[24] The spheres opened on January 31, 2018.[25]

See also

• Doppler (building)
• re:Invent
• List of tallest buildings in Seattle

References

1. "13 Million Pounds of Structural Steel Later… Block 19 Celebrates Topping Out". Sellen Construction. December 8, 2015. Retrieved December 10, 2015.
2. Rosenberg, Mike (March 10, 2017). "Record construction frenzy sweeps downtown Seattle; more building to come". The Seattle Times. Retrieved March 27, 2017.
3. "Amazon Tower II". CTBUH Skyscraper Center.
4. Amazon Tower II at Emporis
5. "Construction Updates for Blocks 14, 19 & 20". Sellen Construction. Retrieved August 8, 2015.
6. "Rufus 2.0 Block 19". Sellen Construction. Retrieved March 4, 2016.
7. Pryne, Eric (June 8, 2012). "Amazon's 3-block complex has a timetable — and a name". The Seattle Times. Retrieved August 8, 2015.
8. Levy, Nat (November 7, 2016). "It's day one at Day One: Amazon opens second huge office building at new Seattle campus". GeekWire. Retrieved December 11, 2016.
9. González, Ángel. "Amazon unveils smart convenience store sans checkouts, cashiers". The Seattle Times. Retrieved December 11, 2016.
10. "Amazon Go is finally a go: Sensor-infused store opens to the public Monday, with no checkout lines". GeekWire. 2018-01-21. Retrieved 2018-01-22.
11. "Amazon at Denny Triangle: Work Global, Live Local". NBBJ. Retrieved August 8, 2015.
12. "siteworkshop | Amazon Day One". siteworkshop. Retrieved 2018-11-30.
13. Cohen, Aubrey (November 30, 2012). "Seattle OKs Amazon towers". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Retrieved August 8, 2015.
14. Coombs, Casey (November 7, 2016). "Amazon opens doors of 36-story 'Day One' tower". Puget Sound Business Journal. Retrieved November 7, 2016.
15. Khaikin, Lital. "Amazon's New Seattle Office Aiming For LEED Gold Status". Ecopedia.com. Archived from the original on October 26, 2015. Retrieved August 8, 2015.
16. Bhatt, Sanjay (August 19, 2013). "Amazon bubble building gets a cellular look". The Seattle Times. Retrieved August 8, 2015.
17. Stiles, Marc (December 9, 2013). "City signs off on design of Amazon's spherical building". Puget Sound Business Journal. Retrieved August 8, 2015.
18. "3 giant spheres on Lenora will offer 'relaxing getaway spot' for Amazon". Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce. March 8, 2016. Retrieved March 8, 2016.
19. Klacza, Patrick. "Is Amazon's Dome Headquarters The Workspace Of The Future?". Popular Science. Retrieved 13 March 2017.
20. Swisher, Kara (October 26, 2013). "Amazon Builds the Spheres, While Google Opts for the Hulk". AllThingsD. Retrieved August 8, 2015.
21. Johnson, Kirk; Wingfield, Nick (August 25, 2013). "As Amazon Stretches, Seattle's Downtown Is Reshaped". The New York Times. Retrieved August 8, 2015.
22. Wainwright, Oliver (December 20, 2013). "Amazon to build futuristic HQ of greenhouse domes in downtown Seattle". The Guardian. Retrieved August 8, 2015.
23. Belton, Padraig (May 1, 2015). "How the tech industry is redesigning the future workplace". BBC News. Retrieved August 8, 2015.
24. Bhatt, Sanjay (May 21, 2013). "Amazon's plan for giant spheres gets mixed reaction". The Seattle Times. Retrieved August 8, 2015.
25. Ho, Sally (January 31, 2018). "Striking Amazon 'Spheres' landmark opens in downtown Seattle". Los Angeles Times. Associated Press. Retrieved February 18, 2018.