{"id":235527,"date":"2024-08-27T14:06:04","date_gmt":"2024-08-27T18:06:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/interiordesign.net\/?post_type=canvasflow&p=235527"},"modified":"2024-08-28T11:11:22","modified_gmt":"2024-08-28T15:11:22","slug":"it-takes-two-tour-nuros-high-tech-silicon-valley-hq","status":"publish","type":"id_project","link":"https:\/\/interiordesign.net\/projects\/it-takes-two-tour-nuros-high-tech-silicon-valley-hq\/","title":{"rendered":"It Takes Two: Tour Nuro’s High-Tech Silicon Valley HQ"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\"a
At 1290 Terra Bella Avenue, one of two 1960\u2019s former warehouses composing the headquarters expansion of Nuro, a robotics company in Mountain View, California, by Elkus Manfredi Architects, a painted concrete track organizes dense programming elements, like a caf\u00e9 with Pas\u00e9a seating and Allied Maker\u2019s Dome pendant fixtures in its inner loop, and gable-roofed meeting rooms along the perimeter.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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August 27, 2024<\/p>\n\n\n

Words: <\/span>Wanda Lau<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Photography: <\/span>Eric Laignel<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

It Takes Two: Tour Nuro’s High-Tech Silicon Valley HQ<\/h1>\n\n\n

Achieving success as a tech startup is difficult. But not if an idea is landed upon that meets a need so clearly. Such is the case with Nuro, a growing robotics company developing zero-occupant, electric, self-driving vehicles that deliver goods using its proprietary mapping technology. Moving full speed ahead, Nuro\u2019s headquarters in Mountain View, California, has recently expanded to include two 1960\u2019s former warehouses. Thanks to Elkus Manfredi Architects<\/a>, their interiors don\u2019t just avoid generic spec territory, they center on a vision that fulfills the client\u2019s goals, makes optimal use of a space, engages staff, and respects the planet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"a
At 1290 Terra Bella Avenue, one of two 1960\u2019s former warehouses composing the headquarters expansion of Nuro, a robotics company in Mountain View, California, by Elkus Manfredi Architects, a painted concrete track organizes dense programming elements, like a caf\u00e9 with Pas\u00e9a seating and Allied Maker\u2019s Dome pendant fixtures in its inner loop, and gable-roofed meeting rooms along the perimeter.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The project\u2019s scale is formidable: the renovation of a 58,000-square-foot erstwhile industrial laboratory that would expand Nuro\u2019s existing office at 1290 Terra Bella Avenue, plus a 49,000-square-foot fit-out approximately 500 feet away, at 1330 Terra Bella. A strategy that would tie Nuro\u2019s brand, product, and request for versatile, human-centered spaces with the vast areas became immediately clear to Elkus Manfredi principal Elizabeth Lowrey. Like \u201cbeing in a plane, looking down on earth, and seeing roads and communities,\u201d she envisioned the interiors laid out as cities, with a network of neighborhoods and a sweeping \u201cring road,\u201d essentially a track that organizes work functions in its inner \u201curban\u201d loop and distributed breakout spaces in its outer \u201csuburban\u201d loop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lowrey knew the strategy had to avoid crossing into kitsch territory. \u201cHow do you interpret city-making in a sophisticated, elegant, and simple way?\u201d she says. \u201cIt was about being quiet, not having a concept that was hitting you over the head.\u201d Lowrey navigates this territory well, having the agility and know-how to formulate dynamic interiors for projects as wide-ranging as the upscale White Elephant Palm Beach hotel<\/a> in Florida to the TMC\u00b3 Collaborative Building<\/a>, an innovative life-sciences and laboratory facility in Houston.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"reception
In reception at 1290, under RBW\u2019s Vitis pendants, guests check-in at the maple-veneered desk and can wait in Fiber chairs made of wood composite and recycled plastic.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Like a thriving city, Nuro\u2019s program is complex and multifaceted: an R&D engineering hub complete with more than 800 workstations, laboratories, testing areas, and meeting spaces accommodating small groups to town halls. Lowrey and her team embraced the warehouses\u2019 volume and soaring ceiling heights: 14\u00bd feet at 1290, nearly 22 at 1330. \u201cThe scale of these buildings can\u2019t be beaten,\u201d she continues. \u201cSo, we instead added daylight, air, scale-tempering elements like meeting rooms, and acoustically private spaces to humanize it\u2014and then it\u2019s like having the whole sky above you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"a
A mezzanine at the other building, 1330 Terra Bella, currently sublet, overlooks an open office area floored, like much of the project, with Turn carpet tile, which is made of recycled nylon and carbon neutral.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The simplicity of the ring road, a two-lane, 8-foot-wide track painted on the existing concrete floor of both buildings, belies its impact. Its minimalism is the ultimate sustainable design flex. Its capsule shape nods to Nuro\u2019s logo. It serves as a testing ground for the company\u2019s autonomous vehicles. And, like streets in a city, it provides Nuro employees wayfinding and a main artery that connects all interior spaces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1290, the 540-foot-circumference track encircles meeting rooms, laboratories, a kitchenette, and workstation hubs rotated in different orientations \u201clike a neighborhood plan,\u201d Lowrey explains. The outer loop hosts lounge areas, a caf\u00e9, and workstations distributed along the building perimeter. Private conference rooms positioned prominently along the road are topped with illuminated gable rooflines, forming a human-scale skyline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"a
In 1330\u2019s multipurpose area, which provides a 12-by-45-foot projection surface for presentations between the pair of stairways, Zero51 pendants recall the headlights of Nuro cars.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In 1330, the 350-foot-diameter ring wraps a multipurpose space that can host all-hands meetings and is overlooked by a mezzanine. The company is currently subleasing this building in anticipation of occupying it in the coming years, according to Timothy Bergen, Nuro\u2019s head of real estate and workplace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Notwithstanding the occasional Nuro car or cyclist on the track\u2014yes, bikes are allowed\u2014the expansion exudes mobility and adaptability. Staffers, who work in robotics, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and product design, can relocate where they need or want to work with the aid of movable furniture, repositionable track lighting, and an array of seating choices, from acoustic wraparound chairs to counter stools and task chairs in enclosed rooms for recharging or focus work. \u201cWe\u2019re trying to empower each employee to do their best work,\u201d Lowrey notes, \u201cletting people control the space versus the space controlling the people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"a
In 1290, custom wallcovering depicts maps of cities served by Nuro cars.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Miniature models are throughout the workspace.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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\"the
This vehicle serves the Mountain View area.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

In addition to the creation of neighborhoods within walls, other touches distinguish the space as distinctly Nuro. Miniature models of its vehicles are sprinkled throughout 1290. Murals of abstracted street maps delineate the travel paths of the company\u2019s cars in the cities it serves, Mountain View and Houston among them. And, in 1330\u2019s multipurpose area, O-shape pendant fixtures wink to the Nuro\u2019s beguiling round headlamps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Besides preserving the elements containing the highest embodied carbon\u2014the building structures themselves\u2014the project also retained 53 skylights across both buildings and the wood-framed ceiling decking in building 1290. Though exterior walls were left exposed and unfinished, the renovation cuts in floor-to-ceiling windows to enable expansive viewing angles from the deep floor plates. \u201cYou can see the sky, not just what\u2019s straight in front of you,\u201d Lowrey says. Light fixture finishes, soft seating, and carbon-neutral carpet made from recycled materials help dampen sound in the open layouts. A natural color palette of sand, caramel, white, gray, and black conveys the company\u2019s ethos of sustainability, humility, and handcraft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"a
An aluminum roll-up door opens to a testing lab for Nuro\u2019s electric, self-driving vehicles.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Nuro
Nuro employees can gather in 1290\u2019s caf\u00e9, which, like the rest of the headquarters, features furnishings and finishes made from sustainable materials in compliance with California Title 24 Building Energy Efficiency Standards.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"a
Here the track separates outer lounge areas from the inner kitchenette, the latter centered on a custom maple-tambour island.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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\"a
A lounge at 1330, outfitted with TAF Studio\u2019s Rime pendants and modular seating, is flexible enough for meetings, solo work, or relaxation.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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\"orange
Hedge lounge chairs and a Circula table form a breakout area within the open office.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"Glass
Glass garage-style doors allow for indoor-outdoor gatherings in the double-height space.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

PROJECT TEAM<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

ELKUS MANFREDI ARCHITECTS: <\/strong>TARA REILLY; LINDA MACLEOD FANNON; MICHAEL HATHAWAY; MARK VANLUVEN; JACQUELINE HIERSTEINER; MARC CIANNAVEI; MICHAEL STRAHM; ELIZABETH STEVENS; DREA PLUMMER; STEFAN VOLATILE-WOOD. LEMESSURIER: <\/strong>STRUCTURAL ENGINEER. MONTBLEAU & ASSOCIATES: <\/strong>MILLWORK. DPR CONSTRUCTION: <\/strong>GENERAL CONTRACTOR.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PRODUCT SOURCES<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

FROM FRONT ALLIED MAKER: <\/strong>PENDANT FIXTURES (CAF\u00c9). ANDREU WORLD: <\/strong>ROUND TABLES. SITONIT: <\/strong>SOFAS (CAF\u00c9, RECEPTION, LOUNGE), OTTOMANS (CAF\u00c9, LOUNGE), TABLES, CHAIRS (MULTIPURPOSE). MUUTO: <\/strong>CHAIRS (CAF\u00c9, RECEPTION), PENDANT FIXTURES (BREAKOUT, CAF\u00c9, KITCHENETTE, LOUNGE), STOOLS (CAF\u00c9). BLU DOT: <\/strong>TABLES (RECEPTION, BREAKOUT, LOUNGES), HIGH-BACK CHAIRS (BREAKOUT, LOUNGES). RBW: <\/strong>PENDANT FIXTURE (RECEPTION). SURFACING SOLUTIONS: <\/strong>DESK VENEER. LAWRENCE DOORS: <\/strong>GARAGE DOOR. HUMANSCALE; TEKNION: <\/strong>WORKSTATIONS (OPEN OFFICE). MAHARAM: <\/strong>HIGH-BACK CHAIR FABRIC (BREAKOUT, LOUNGES). LUCIFERO\u2019S: <\/strong>PENDANT FIXTURES (MULTIPURPOSE). WEST COAST INDUSTRIES: <\/strong>TABLES (CAF\u00c9). ARCHITESSA: <\/strong>WALL TILE. FORMICA: <\/strong>CABINETRY. CAESARSTONE: <\/strong>TABLETOPS, COUNTERTOP (KITCHEN), COUNTERTOP (LOUNGE). GRAND RAPIDS CHAIR COMPANY: <\/strong>STOOLS (KITCHENETTE). LUCEPLAN: <\/strong>PENDANT FIXTURES (LOUNGES). THROUGHOUT PROSOCO: <\/strong>CONCRETE FLOORING. SHAW CONTRACT: <\/strong>CARPET TILE. 3M: <\/strong>CUSTOM WALLCOVERING. FINELITE: <\/strong>TRACK PENDANT FIXTURES. THE COLLECTIVE: <\/strong>FURNITURE SUPPLIER. ARCHKEY SOLUTIONS: <\/strong>LIGHTING SUPPLIER. BENJAMIN MOORE & CO.: <\/strong>PAINT.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n