Nintendo of America, Inc., Corporate Headquarters

NINTENDO OF AMERICA, INC. CORPORATE HEADQUARTERS

Main Entry PHOTOGRAPHER Benjamin Benschneider

NINTENDO OF AMERICA, INC. CORPORATE HEADQUARTERS

OWNER

Nintendo of America, Inc. LOCATION

Redmond, Washington DATE COMPLETE

2010

ARCHITECT ZGF Architects LLP

CONTRACTOR Turner Construction Company

CONSULTANTS Stantec Consulting Services Inc. Sparling LANDSCAPE Brumbaugh & Associates GRAPHICS / WAYFINDING & PRINT Studio SC FOOD & RESTAURANT Clevenger Associates STRUCTURAL/CIVIL ENGINEER Coughlin Porter Lundeen FIRE /LIFE SAFETY/ADA CODE Rolf Jensen & Associates, Inc. ELEVATOR /VERTICAL TRANSPORTATION Lerch Bates Inc. BUILDING ENVELOPE Morrison Hershfield Corporation TRANSPORTATION / TRAFFIC Transportation Engineering NorthWest, LLC GEOTECHNICAL /SOILS Associated Earth Sciences, Inc. SURVEYING Triad Associates PHOTOGRAPHY Benjamin Benschneider MECHANICAL ENGINEER ELECTRICAL ENGINEER

OVERVIEW The design of Nintendo of America’s corporate headquarters in Washington State offers the opportunity to consolidate staff formerly located in multiple office buildings into a highly flexible, functional and sustainable modern work environment. The resulting four-story 275,000 SF office building—set in a 14-acre business park—houses 600 employees in an efficient, open floor plan that maximizes natural daylight and views to the outdoors, minimizes the building’s overall environmental footprint, and incorporates the client’s corporate culture and identity as an innovative gaming industry leader. The project also features a 5,000 SF data center, cafeteria, and museum, as well as a 3-story, 600-car stand-alone parking garage.

SIZE 275,000 SF

CONSTRUCTION METHOD Integrated Project Delivery (IPD)

BUILDING PERFORMANCE LEED Gold

SITING Located within a corporate business park, the building was sited to allow a “green buffer” between the new building and the neighborhood’s edge, for the front entry and a well-defined promenade to face a significant arterial through the business s park and city, and for the new headquarters to be visible from a major North-South highway (SR 520). Envisioned as an outdoor amenity for staff as well as an extension of the building’s programmed areas, the landscape incorporates intra-campus paths and trails, active water features, and inviting outdoor spaces including a landscaped plaza, amphitheater and dining directly adjacent to the building’s cafeteria and accessible through a set of large sliding doors, providing an ideal space for dining, informal meetings, promotional and product launch activities as well as for firm-wide social events and company parties.

DESIGN A process of exploration and creative discovery resulted in a design that is simple, transparent, and accessible to users. The design response balances the client’s desire for a high performance, sustainable work environment form and structure that honors the client’s cultural history with an intricate 300’ x 300’ building.

The extensive use of glazing on the building’s base level creates a transparent aesthetic that connects to the natural landscape and reveals the structural steel cross-bracing on the interior. A double-height square entry lobby—anchored by a cube reception desk—draws natural light into the space and creates a natural transition between the outdoors and indoors. The exterior façade on the upper floors consists of an earthy, tooled black basalt stone combined with recessed, low-E glass windows and steel framing to create a sleek, clean, and organized façade while reducing heat glare and gain and providing optimal daylighting. Each side of the building is further articulated through the use of vertical and horizontal sun shades that respond to the conditions present along each façade throughout the day. The top floor gracefully detaches itself from the conference facilities, providing visual interest, tranquility, seclusion and space for extensive living roof elements.

WORKPLACE A thorough investigation of relationships from the inside-out helped create continuity and transparency between the building interior and exterior, starting with an understanding of how the work conducted in the office space should and could inform design. The design team interviewed staff about work styles to determine how employees interact on a daily basis, how the client’s structure and office layout are—or are not—reflective of one another, how communication occurs and how it should occur, where opportunities for interaction could spawn future creativity, and where lessons learned from their current facility could inform design of the new idealized work environment. Responding directly to these exercises, the building’s 275,000 SF program is accomplished within a highly-compact footprint that provides large column-free space with open and flexible 90,000 SF floor plates that can be subdivided into efficient program zones and easily modified to meet future teaming and space configuration needs.

The first floor accommodates employee amenities including dining facilities, a welcoming lobby space, multi-purpose rooms, a data center, and an auditorium, with an exercise facility and locker rooms on the basement level. On the second and third floors of the building, a 60’-wide belt of space along the edge of the building creates a ring of highly-flexible, open, and daylit work space that provides access to views. Functions such as conference rooms, kitchenettes, stairs, and meeting spaces are located within the core of the building. Between the core and the office perimeter, a bamboo-floored ‘race track’ provides pedestrian circulation off adjacent to double-volume, sky-lit meeting spaces for team interaction, impromptu meetings and discussions. The top floor features conference facilities lined with windows. The conference rooms offer visual access to the living roof and viewing platform areas. A ‘skylight loop’ around the perimeter of the fourth floor allows natural light to filter deep into the core of the second and third floors—connected by open staircases—and to tie the levels together with both light and circulation.

BRANDING & IDENTITY As a bright and vibrant contrast to the neutral color palette utilized throughout the building, each floor and building quadrant is highlighted by color and one of the client’s specific characters. This creative wayfinding system celebrates the firm’s history and success with colorful silhouettes of classic characters— while also providing for ease of navigation and a fun departure from more traditional work spaces.

SUSTAINABLE DESIGN Led by a commitment to socially responsible business practices, the LEED Gold building’s consolidated building form enables advanced stormwater management practices and low energy solutions. More than 30% of the site’s impervious surfaces were returned to permeable ground covering—including a 67,000 SF living roof and on-site bioswales—resulting in efficient stormwater and site hydrology conditions. The naturally vegetated living roof— the largest in the region—detains and purifies stormwater; is accessible to employees as a place of respite; provides a habitat for native vegetation, birds, and insects; and provides insulation. The building’s energy strategies include an underfloor displacement air system, exterior shading and daylight devices, and automated energy and daylighting controls. In addition, the design team incorporated a number of highlysustainable materials, including low-VOC paints, FSC-rated woods, and carpet and tile with high recycled-content which reinforce the building’s performance.

PARKING GARAGE Linked by a covered pedestrian connection and underground walkway, a separate three-story 600-car parking garage is located just south of the main office building. Perforated aluminum panels provide ample camouflage and feature the signature Nintendo brand.

INTEGRATED DELIVERY PROCESS Early engagement between the contractor and the design team, and the commitment by all team members to pursue a highly-integrated design and construction process, allowed for detailed constructability reviews of proposed design solutions, the development of comprehensive pricing support documentation, and by Design Development, the creation of a highly accurate and multi-faceted Building Information Model (BIM) that contained up-to-date building system information from all disciplines. The client’s decision to pursue an accelerated delivery schedule—in effect removing nearly nine months from the design and construction schedule— would have been a more significant challenge had the team not already been engaged in a highly collaborative process.

Integration of Lean practices such as off-site manufacturing, just-in-time delivery of key components, and a reverseengineered design process proved successful, allowing for the design to progress from the inside-out, for construction to begin while internal components were still being designed, and for critical changes to occur late in the process without negatively effecting project schedule, budget or progress.

LEVEL LEVEL1 1

9

8

1

2

3 2

7

6

5 2

4 2

4

2

0’

1

Workstations

6

Lobby/Entry and Gallery

2

Conference/Meeting

7

Nintendo Store

3

Group Collaboration

8

Data Center

4

Cafeteria/Food Service

9

Loading Dock

5

Central Connecting Stair

10’

20’

40’

80’

N 0'

10'

20'

40'

80'

LEVEL LEVEL 2 2

1

1

3

3 1 2

1

3 3

3

1

2

3

1

1

0’

1

Workstations

2

Conference/Meeting

3

Group Collaboration

10’

20’

40’

80’

N 0'

10'

20'

40'

80'

LEVEL LEVEL3 3

1

1

2

2

1

1

0’

1

Workstations

2

Conference/Meeting

10’

20’

40’

80’

N 0'

10'

20'

40'

80'

LEVEL LEVEL 4 4

1

1

2

2

3

3

1

1

0’

1

Green Roof

2

Conference/Meeting

3

Roof Deck Amenity

10’

20’

40’

80’

N 0'

10'

20'

40'

80'

CONTACT Leslie Morison 925 Fourth Avenue, Suite 2400 Seattle, Washington 98104 206 521 3481 leslie.morison@zgf.com WEBSITE www.zgf.com TELEPHONE EMAIL

Printed on recycled paper.

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