Google shows whimsical plans for new Silicon Valley campus

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. -- Tech giant Google on Friday morning dropped off reams of paperwork at Mountain View City Hall detailing the company's whimsical plans to expand its corporate headquarters.

Drawings of the plans show a series of translucent, biosphere-like canopies over the city's North Bayshore office district between San Francisco Bay and Highway 101.

"Instead of constructing immoveable concrete buildings, we'll create lightweight block-like structures which can be moved around easily as we invest in new product areas," the company said in a statement. "Large translucent canopies will cover each site, controlling the climate inside yet letting in light and air."

Hundreds of pages containing the full details of the plans are not yet publicly available, but several city officials shown the renderings said they were impressed.

"Rather than an insular corporate headquarters, Google North Bayshore will be a vibrant new neighborhood of Mountain View," said Danish architect Bjarke Ingels, who was commissioned to design the project along with London's Thomas Heatherwick, in a written statement Friday.

But local residents are likely to raise concerns about traffic congestion and how the massive development could reshape the small city's suburban way of life.

Google's plans appear to absorb nearly all of the land in the North Bayshore technology district that the city has allowed for new office development, raising concerns about what room will be left for everyone else.

This story was originally published February 28, 2015 at 12:00 AM.