Originally published June 26, 2008 at 12:00 AM | Page modified June 26, 2008 at 11:57 AM

Kirkland's new "Googleplex" unveiled to the public

Hundreds on Wednesday viewed the inside the 195,000-square-foot complex scheduled to open in Kirkland early next year.

THOMAS JAMES HURST / THE SEATTLE TIMES

Google employees and neighbors of the Kirkland complex look out over the company's sprawling, three-building campus west of Interstate 405. Construction has been under way for months, with the Googleplex expected to open early in 2009.

THOMAS JAMES HURST / THE SEATTLE TIMES

Grant Schneider points out where he and co-worker Jennifer Sternberg work from an office inside one of Google's buildings on the Kirkland campus. The complex is expected to have more than 600 workers.

Employees and visitors tour Google's new campus in Kirkland

Hundreds of visitors Wednesday got to see inside the new Googleplex scheduled to open in Kirkland early next year.

The 195,000-square-foot, three-building complex in the Houghton neighborhood is expected to employ more than 600 people. The site, on Sixth Street South west of Interstate 405, was once a Navy warehouse and brick factory that had been underused for years, said Andy Loos of SRM Development, which bought the property seven years ago and found Google as a tenant.

The open house marked a first step in obtaining certification by the U.S. Green Building Council that the project is environmentally sustainable.

Criteria include building and construction standards, site cleanup, water conservation and the use of recycled materials, according to Nancy Henderson of ArchEcology, a Seattle firm.

— Peyton Whitely, Seattle Times staff reporter

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