The Grove Experience Center
While at Iontank, Greg worked on a number of environmental installations inside of the Grove Experience Center at Google Redwood City. The Grove Experience Center is a facility designed to entertain guests, hold medium sized conferences, and host other events related to Google’s businesses.
Fairy Lights And Lobby Sculpture
As you walk into the main lobby you are immediately presented with two major elements Iontank contributed to the space.
There is a volume of hand-blown glass pendants which activate by a warm light and there are three sculptures cascading in size suspended from the ceiling.
The exterior form of each of the 3 sculptures was designated by a 3D scan of trees in a local redwood forest. The sculptures each have a down light that highlights the profile of the tree, as well as a low resolution display on the inside of the tree that can be driven by the central show control software.
There are nearly 500 hand-blown glass pendants in the space that vary from 1 to 6 inches in diameter. Each pendant has a small warm LED light resting on top, which is being driven by a an electrical system within the panels they hang from.
The system can be addressed by the show control software in the building, where the site technicians can control the animations that run through the volume.
Throughout the volume of pendants there are 20 redwood seed cones.
Each seed cone has a circuit board core, which allows it to be lit from the inside, as well as 40 hand bent walnut pedals.
The Redwood Trail
As you leave the lobby and head towards the main gathering area of the space, you make your way to the Redwood Trail.
The Redwood Trail is a compression space composed of 30 ribs, each of which is veneered in a dark walnut and is edge lit to outline the shape of the of the tunnel.
As you move through the the tunnel, an array of LIDAR sensors mounted to each rib detects your position and runs a halo animation around you as you move through the space.
The Redwood Trail fades out to reveal a projection surface as you get closer to the end.
The Grove
As you exit the Redwood Trail, you are presented with The Grove.
The Grove Installation consists of three trees that span floor to ceiling across two stories, as well as a digital campfire in the center that is controlled by a google assistant.
Each of the trees has a low resolution display on their interior that is connected to the show control system for the facility.
The Grove Trees can be viewed from the second floor kitchen and cafe through glass, where you can watch the branches move as if they are blowing in the coastal breeze.
Each branch rests on a cam attached to a DC motor, which allows it to gently move up and down.
As you look up into the trees, you see the Grove Canopy where all the trees join together to create a ceiling.
The Grove Canopy provides mounting sources for the tops of the trees, as well as the theatrical lighting.
Constellation Lights
The Constellation Lights are a simple, yet effective way to add a lot of value to the finned ceiling structure.
Each circuit board has 20 individually addressable LEDs and is mounted to two spring steel hangers that fit between the fins.
The whole system is controlled by the central show control software and animates as if the stars are twinkling in the sky at the end of a warm summer day.
