Source: news.nike.com
After Serena Williams announced his withdrawal from the US Open in August last year, countless fans are looking forward to the return of Serena Williams, the sister of the tennis queen, Venus Williams, . Her name is a dazzling existence in the sports world, meaning countless championship titles, carrying the expectations of many fans, and now, Serena Williams' name has been given a new dimension. Recently, the Serena Williams Building, the building named Serena Williams, opened at Nike's global headquarters.
Source: news.nike.com
The line of sight passes through the stele engraved with the words "SERENA", and a modern building composed of 1 tower and 5 wings come into view. The building is designed by Sky Laboratory Architectural Design Company, headquartered in Portland, and covers an area of about 90,000 square meters. Its area is equivalent to the size of 140 regular tennis courts. It is now the largest office building at Nike's global headquarters. Whether from the cool appearance or the creative interior design, people can feel Nike's interpretation of brand philosophy and dedication to brand innovation.
Source: skylabarchitecture.com
Looking down from the air, five gray and white wings are like 5 fingers of human beings "stretched" and extending out from the 10-story tower, stroking this green land. Above the plaque of "SERENA", a translucent special-shaped bridge is arranged between the two wings. This is the creativity of Nike Chief Design Officer John Hawke and Sky Laboratory architectural design company Jeff Cowell. They chose to connect the two buildings to each other, and through this layout, it alluded to the "first handshake" between Nike founder , Phil Knight and co-founder Bill Bowerman when he founded the company more than 50 years ago.
From the initial nine white office buildings at Nike's headquarters in 1989, to the later expanded 13 buildings, and to the newly added Serena Williams Building, as the Nike team gradually grew, it has been continuously investing in the construction of the headquarters base and paying more attention to the development of its team. It is reported that the Serena Williams Building will bring together Nike's design team, consumer insight team, and clothing and footwear marketing team under one roof for the first time.
Nike Chief Design Officer John Hawke said: "This will usher in a whole new era. When I first joined the Nike team as a retail designer, our entire design team might have only 80 people, and now, we have 800 people. This is the first time that all branches of design teams are brought together to do products, do research... I can't wait to see what will happen."
Source: news.nike.com
"We are working to build a world-class product and creative center, and we want to provide employees with a profound experience that really inspires curiosity and imagination," Hawke said. Here, the integrated design team will have a wealth of environment to develop new Nike products. From initial sketches to product development to retail design, the spacious workspace, various meeting areas and a wellness room for mental health on each floor are enough to allow all employees to work together to try any incredible new ideas.
The Serena Williams Building is equipped with nearly 19,000 square meters of laboratory space, and the area is almost like a two-story mall that completely simulates the retail environment. Open the door and you enter a completely different world. The immersive space of 180-degree wraparound visual projection can turn the concept into reality, allowing the Nike team to visualize the product for evaluation.
Source: news.nike.com
In addition, the building has also created a feature-rich area, a 13,000 square meters showroom, a double-layer theater named after Serena's daughter, an employee canteen with Williams winning scene painted on the walls, an informative footwear material archive... The building is full of cultural stories about athletes, sports, innovative elements and Nike. As Serena said, “The whole building holds your breath. Wherever you go, you can get inspiration from every element. I hope this building will inspire people to get the best of their minds, and dreams are stronger than they think."
When building this building, Serena and Nike design team told her life story in detail and expressed their persistent life philosophy. From this space with Serena as the "theme background", people can find many relevant details, such as those white roses planted in the main square, which are Serena's favorites; galleries full of photos, where people can feel the family moments in Serena's family life; Serena's souvenirs displayed along the window will take everyone to relive the glorious moment of winning the championship; and some low-carbon facilities in the building, which mirror Serena Pay attention to protecting the earth.
Source: news.nike.com
Green and sustainable has always been a philosophy that Nike is practicing. The building has obtained LEED Platinum certification. During its construction, the design team focused on building a harmonious balance between the building and the surrounding natural environment. One side of the building was surrounded by a road with trucks, which isolated the building from the wetlands next to it. The design team chose to bury the road during construction and opened a new underground passage to build a new underground passage in this way The building is closely "stitched" with the surrounding wetland landscape. In the landfilled road, the design team also arranged a restaurant connected to the outdoors to allow the building to return to nature seamlessly.
In addition, the building also pays great attention to the reuse of energy. The building is equipped with 648 solar panels to provide energy inside the building; the rainwater collection system is arranged on the terrace to supply water to the bathroom; the use of water-saving devices reduces the water consumption of the building by 69% compared to ordinary buildings; some design rooms are even made of recycled Nike shoes outsoles...
It is undeniable that naming this building after Serena is of great significance to Nike. Her story and spirit will affect nearly a thousand employees in the office building, and stimulate the inspiration potential of sports brand designers with the passionate stories and strong spiritual power of sports stars. In May this year, Nike will celebrate its 50th birthday. The changes in the headquarters building have recorded the development of the brand in the past 50 years. Judging from the atmosphere created by Nike to nurture corporate creativity, in the next 50 years, Nike will look for the future from more creative products.
Proofreading: Ling Zaiqing
