Google Redwood City - Grove
Dec 2017 - November 2018
This project was created for the Google ‘Grove Experience Center’ in Redwood City, California.
The centerpiece of this facility is a 2-story tall assembly of programmable “Redwood Trees” with matching ‘canopy’. The trees are adorned with programmable lighting arrays and dozens of individually addressable motorized branches that capable of simulating a breeze blowing through the space and rustling the trees.
I contributed the final designs and all fabrication for the branches based on an initial sketch from the experience design firm Thinkwell. Central ‘tree trunks’ and designs for sub-assemblies were created by Zach Ali. The ceiling assemblies were designed primarily by Carl Bajandas with some of the procedural generation being assisted by Greg King
These reference documents were created by me at the conclusion of the project to provide both internal and client facing documentation for the components I fabricated and assembled.
Essential to this project is the movement of the branches, this is a video of an early prototype showing the motor and cam system contributed by Visionary Effects and integrated with the rest of the design.
Fabrication for this project took place over the 2018 calendar year and was initially assembled in the Iontank studio. One factor complicating this build was that the building where the Grove would be permanently installed was still under construction while
Digital prototyping allowed us to get a sense of the assembly and aesthetics without needing to take time and materials to create physical prototypes.
One early change that was made after discussions around digital prototyping was to alter the steel counterweights on the rear of the branches. This component, designed to reduce strain on the motors, the assembly could weight as much as 40 pounds. When installed these parts would be hanging 11 - 26 feet in the air. The design was altered to one that would result in a more complex installation process but provided a more secure attachment in the event of seismic events or catastrophic failure.
The parts that would take the longest and wind up being the biggest headache were the 3/4 Steel and Aluminum counterweights. Here are the proofs waterjet from 3/4" aluminum which fit together flawlessly. We would later encounter tolerance issues
The "Foliage Supports" act as the rigid aluminum spine for the printed acrylic "Leaf Panels". It was laser cut from 3000 series aluminum and bent on a metal brake. 100 of these parts were made, mirror images of each other 50 left, 50 right. This part also gave some fine adjustability to the counter-balance of the branch as it could be adjusted fore or aft once installed in the tree with the leaf panels attached.
Once the metal parts had been commissioned by local fabricators we got to work machining the branch "Limbs" from 1/2" Puma-Plywood. All substrate for this project needed to by fire retardant to match building standards.
Some parts were veneered in house other we hired additional help, this job was too big to be handled by our small team alone.
The "Foliage Supports" act as the rigid aluminum spine for the printed acrylic "Leaf Panels". It was laser cut from 3000 series aluminum and bent on a metal brake. 100 of these parts were made, mirror images of each other 50 left, 50 right. This part also gave some fine adjustability to the counter-balance of the branch as it could be adjusted fore or aft once installed in the tree with the leaf panels attached.