Originally published July 2016. Updated June 2026.
The Amazon Spheres are the three glass-and-steel biodomes Amazon built into its downtown Seattle headquarters campus, opened to employees in January 2018 and now an architectural icon of the Amazon corporate footprint. The Spheres house more than 40,000 plants from cloud-forest ecosystems across 30 countries. They sit at the center of Amazon’s 12-million-square-foot Seattle headquarters complex, which now operates alongside the HQ2 campus in Arlington, Virginia and the rapidly expanding Bellevue, Washington corporate footprint that has absorbed a meaningful share of Amazon’s recent US growth.
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The 2018 Spheres opening and what was actually built
Amazon broke ground on the Spheres in 2015 and opened the structures to employees in January 2018. The three interconnected glass domes — the largest 90 feet tall and 130 feet wide — house more than 40,000 plants representing 400 species from cloud forests across Central and South America, Africa, and Asia. The biodomes include endangered species, a four-story living wall, suspended tree-houses connected by walkways, and conference and quiet-work spaces. The construction cost was estimated at $4 billion across the broader Seattle headquarters complex of which the Spheres are the architectural centerpiece.
The Spheres functioned exactly as the original 2016 communications framing suggested they would. They became a Seattle landmark, drew tourist traffic to the public ground-floor observation area, generated sustained positive coverage in architecture and design publications, and reinforced Amazon’s reputation as a major corporate citizen in Seattle even as the broader political relationship between the city and the company became more strained.
HQ2: Arlington, the canceled NYC bid, and the new headquarters arc
Amazon announced the HQ2 search in September 2017 with a public request for proposals from US and Canadian cities. The contest drew 238 city bids and dominated economic-development news cycles for over a year. Amazon announced in November 2018 that HQ2 would be split between Long Island City, New York, and Arlington, Virginia. The New York portion was canceled in February 2019 after local political opposition led by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez challenged the $3 billion incentive package.
Arlington proceeded. The Metropolitan Park section of HQ2 opened in 2023 with 8,000 employees. The PenPlace second phase — originally planned to include a 350-foot tall “Helix” landmark tower — was paused in 2023 and reentered planning in 2024. Amazon employs more than 8,000 people in Arlington as of 2026, well below the originally projected 25,000 by 2030 target but still meaningful enough that Arlington and the broader Northern Virginia tech corridor have absorbed material spillover effects.
The Bellevue shift
The materially important Amazon headquarters expansion since 2020 has been Bellevue, Washington — not Arlington. Amazon began aggressive Bellevue real-estate acquisition in 2019 and now occupies more than 6 million square feet of office space across the Bellevue downtown core. The 2024 Bellevue employee count exceeded 12,000, on track for Amazon’s stated target of 25,000 Bellevue employees by 2027. The Bellevue footprint now exceeds the Arlington HQ2 footprint in both square footage and employee count.
The Bellevue expansion runs in parallel to the Seattle relationship cooling that followed the 2018 Seattle “head tax” controversy and the 2020 Seattle police reform protests. Amazon publicly indicated in 2020 and 2021 that it would shift future hiring growth out of Seattle proper toward Bellevue. The shift has held. Seattle remains Amazon’s largest single office concentration; Bellevue is where the growth is.
The 2024 return-to-office mandate
CEO Andy Jassy announced in September 2024 that Amazon corporate employees would return to the office five days per week starting January 2025, ending the post-pandemic hybrid work arrangement that had run since 2020. The decision was framed as restoring the in-person collaboration norms that defined Amazon’s culture before the pandemic. Employee response was mixed, with the most public pushback coming from senior engineering and product staff in Seattle, Bellevue, and remote-friendly cities including Austin and New York.
The return-to-office policy materially increased the strategic value of Amazon’s physical headquarters footprint. Whole Foods, Amazon Fresh, and Amazon Go locations near major corporate offices saw measurable foot-traffic increases. Amazon’s downtown Seattle and downtown Bellevue restaurants, retail concessions, and Whole Foods adjacent stores became materially more valuable. The headquarters footprint is now a daily commerce footprint.
Two operating implications for understanding Amazon’s physical corporate posture in 2026.
The Seattle-Bellevue corridor is the structural Amazon headquarters. Arlington HQ2 is a meaningful secondary campus, not a coequal headquarters. The HQ2 narrative that dominated 2018 economic development coverage was always more useful as positioning than as a description of where Amazon actually operates.
Corporate real-estate has become an Amazon retail asset. The 2024 return-to-office mandate combined with the Whole Foods, Amazon Fresh, and Amazon Go store footprints near Amazon offices creates a closed-loop retail environment for Amazon employees. The corporate footprint feeds the consumer retail footprint.
Amazon opened the Spheres to employees in January 2018. The three interconnected glass biodomes house more than 40,000 plants from cloud-forest ecosystems and sit at the center of Amazon’s downtown Seattle headquarters campus.
Where is Amazon’s headquarters?
Amazon’s primary headquarters is in Seattle, with material concurrent operations in Bellevue, Washington and Arlington, Virginia (HQ2). Seattle remains the largest single office concentration; Bellevue is absorbing the bulk of recent hiring growth.
What happened to Amazon HQ2 in New York?
Amazon canceled the Long Island City portion of HQ2 in February 2019 after local political opposition led by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez challenged the incentive package. The Arlington, Virginia portion of HQ2 proceeded and opened the Metropolitan Park section in 2023.
How big is Amazon’s Bellevue footprint?
Amazon occupies more than 6 million square feet of office space across the Bellevue downtown core. The 2024 Bellevue employee count exceeded 12,000, on track for the stated target of 25,000 Bellevue employees by 2027.
Did Amazon mandate return to office?
Yes. CEO Andy Jassy announced in September 2024 that Amazon corporate employees would return to the office five days per week starting January 2025, ending the post-pandemic hybrid arrangement that had run since 2020.
Can the public visit the Amazon Spheres?
Yes, on a limited basis. The Spheres have a public ground-floor visitor center and host weekend tours with advance registration. The main biodome interior remains primarily an employee-access space.
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