Amazon gets go-ahead for giant helix tower headquarters

The tower’s spiral design features an exterior ramp that wraps around the building and features trees and greenery in a mountain hike-style aesthetic.

Amazon-Headquarters Helix (NBBJ/Amazon)

Amazon has been given the green light to build a state-of-the-art helix-shaped tower at the heart of its second headquarters in northern Virginia.

The Arlington County Board unanimously approved the eye-catching, 350-foot (106m) tower which will be large enough to accommodate more than 25,000 workers when complete.

The tower’s spiral design features an exterior ramp that wraps around the building and features trees and greenery in a mountain hike-style aesthetic.

Amazon says the building is designed to help people connect to nature, and the outdoor mountain climb that sits across the Potomac River from Washington DC will be open to the public on weekends.

When Amazon unveiled the plans for the building in February 2021, it was met with a mixed response from the public.

Some likened the unique design to a Christmas tree or a soft-serve ice cream cone. Less flattering comments compared it to a poop emoji.

Since then, the plans have gone through the famously thorough review process of Arlington County, including numerous public hearings. Earlier this month, the county planning commission voted 9-0 to support the project.

Because skyscrapers are banned in the District of Columbia, and the Amazon buildings will be among the tallest in Arlington County, from some vantage points the helix will dominate the region’s skyline like no building other than the Washington Monument.

In 2018, Amazon chose the site in Arlington, Virginia as the locations for its new headquarters, after a selection process that saw cities across the US offer an array of incentives in attempts to woo the technology firm.

It also chose a site in Queens, New York, that it later pulled out of after a community backlash at the tax breaks and public funding.

Associated Press contributed to this report