San Francisco, California
American Prize for Architecture laureates SHoP Architects’ new Uber Headquarters is a two-building complex in San Francisco’s Mission Bay district that combines innovative workspace design, ground-up sustainability practices, and an integrated approach to community building—indoors and out.
SHoP Architects worked closely with Quezada Architecture and Surfacedesign for the completion of this project where forms are simple, with two glass cubes of six and 11 stories separated by wide pedestrian mews, but the copper-toned structures function like suave machines, where glazed wall panels open and close in pairs, accordionlike, in response to indoor temperatures and exterior weather conditions.
The Uber Headquarters project has recently been awarded a 2022 American Architecture Award by The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design and The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies.
The vertical topography of a two-tower complex realizes the vision of the brand—it’s all about connection and movement, transparency, choose-your-own-destination experiences, circulation, and innovation.
Interfacing with the community of Mission Bay at street level, the project is a thoughtful, joyful next-generation exchange with the city and the dynamic, pedestrian-friendly neighborhood that the design of the building itself will encourage to thrive around it.
This new workplace also marks a departure from the growing trend of an entirely open-plan office. Instead, workstations are arranged in a series of smaller neighborhoods, each with access to shared support and collaborative work zones.
The intention was to find a balance of transparency and warmth and at the same time create a space that leverages the San Francisco climate.
The building’s “front porch,” the Commons, was a place to innovate on these ideas.
The team worked hard to develop that super clear facade that would engage Uber with the street, and a climate approach that would breathe and open to create an even deeper connection with the outdoors.
Project: Uber Headquarters
Architects: SHoP Architects
Associate Architects: Quezada Architecture
Landscape Architects: Surfacedesign Inc.
General Contractor: Truebeck Construction
Client: Uber Technologies, Inc.
