{"id":17838,"date":"2020-01-07T00:46:43","date_gmt":"2020-01-06T16:46:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/blue-origin-takes-one-giant-leap-across-the-street-to-space-ventures-new-hq-in-kent\/"},"modified":"2020-01-07T00:46:43","modified_gmt":"2020-01-06T16:46:43","slug":"blue-origin-takes-one-giant-leap-across-the-street-to-space-ventures-new-hq-in-kent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/blue-origin-takes-one-giant-leap-across-the-street-to-space-ventures-new-hq-in-kent\/","title":{"rendered":"Blue Origin takes one giant leap across the street to space venture\u2019s new HQ in Kent"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Blue
Blue Origin CEO Bob Smith addresses a crowd of VIPs and employees at the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the company\u2019s new headquarters in Kent, Wash. A mockup of Blue Origin\u2019s Blue Moon lander stands in the background. (GeekWire Photo \/ Alan Boyle)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

KENT, Wash. \u2014 Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos\u2019 space effort now officially has more space. To be precise, 232,885 square feet more space.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the bottom line from today\u2019s ribbon-cutting ceremony for Blue Origin\u2019s new headquarters building \u2014 a multimillion-dollar facility across the street from the site of its original HQ and New Shepard suborbital spaceship factory in Kent.<\/p>\n

Blue Origin CEO Bob Smith told GeekWire that the new HQ was required because \u201cwe\u2019re growing like crazy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve grown a third in just the past year,\u201d Smith said during an interview on the mezzanine of the U-shaped building. \u201cSo we\u2019re now north of 2,500 people here.\u201d<\/p>\n

The new structure, built on a 30.7-acre site that the company purchased a little more than two years ago for $14 million, is built to accommodate 1,500 of those employees. Hundreds more are based elsewhere in the Kent area, south of Seattle, as well as at Blue Origin\u2019s suborbital launch site in West Texas, the Florida rocket factory where Blue Origin\u2019s New Glenn orbital-class rocket will be assembled, and at the site of its future BE-4 rocket engine factory in Alabama.<\/p>\n

The mission that faced the construction team, headed by general contractor Sierra Construction, was to create an innovative, interesting facility that\u2019s on brand for the company that Bezos founded back in the year 2000. And to do it quickly.<\/p>\n

Smith said the builders succeeded. Construction started last January, and the project was finished in time to start moving in employees last month (and serve as the venue for Blue Origin\u2019s annual holiday party).<\/p>\n

A mockup of Blue Origin\u2019s Blue Moon lunar lander, placed in a wide-open gathering space just beyond the lobby, serves as the building\u2019s centerpiece \u2014 within sight of the employee lounge and kitchen facilities. An enclosed conference room on the mezzanine has a big picture window that looks down at Blue Moon. Workstations are placed in clusters beneath the hangar-style sloped roof in one of the block-long arms of the building\u2019s \u201cU.\u201d<\/p>\n

The new HQ has been dubbed the O\u2019Neill Building \u2014 in honor of Princeton physicist Gerard O\u2019Neill, whose vision of giant space colonies inspired Bezos\u2019 oft-mentioned dream of having \u201cmillions of people living and working in space.\u201d<\/p>\n

As part of the transition, the old HQ was named as well. It\u2019s now known as the Verne Building, in a nod to the Jules Verne-style rocket that graces its lobby.<\/p>\n