Green Machine
Portrait: William McDonough
McDonough has designed several buildings in California's Silicon Valley, where a balmy landscape is dominated by sealed glass office boxes. At San Jose tech company Aspect Communications, workers are enthusiastic about the airy structure that opened a year ago. They can control the air flow in their cubicles, high-ceilinged rooms are filled with natural light, and windows open onto a courtyard filled with picnic tables and native grass. McDonough insisted on controlling the building materials, too--from the recycled glass bathroom tiles to the ceiling fabric, made of recycled plastic soda bottles.
Jim Zuiderhoek, who until last week was the facilities manager there, says the building has saved almost 10 percent on its power bills compared with the previous headquarters. With fine-tuning, Aspect could save even more, a significant issue in California's pricey energy market. The building's biggest design flaw so far? "We've had two birds fly in," says Zuiderhoek. "It took my guys an hour to get them out." Back to nature.
MAN WITH A PLAN
". . .Growth is good. It just has to be something you would be happy to see growing."
BORN Feb. 20, 1951
EDUCATION B.A., Dartmouth, 1973; M.Arch., Yale University School of Architecture, 1976
MAJOR PROJECTS Gap Inc. corporate headquarters; Nike European headquarters; Ford Rouge manufacturing complex
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