First planting, first look inside Amazon's 'Spheres'

Amazon's biospheres, "The Spheres" near completion in downtown Seattle, on Thursday, May 4, 2017. Amazon's biospheres, "The Spheres" near completion in downtown Seattle, on Thursday, May 4, 2017. Photo: GRANT HINDSLEY, SEATTLEPI.COM Photo: GRANT HINDSLEY, SEATTLEPI.COM Image 1 of / 77 Caption Close First planting, first look inside Amazon's 'Spheres' 1 / 77 Back to Gallery

They aren't even finished yet and they're already becoming something of a landmark in Seattle.

And why shouldn't they be? A hulking structure of three steel-framed, glass-enclosed domes called, simply, "The Spheres," isn't likely to be missed.

On Thursday, the domes got a ceremonial first planting of the 400-plus species of plants that will eventually reside inside the structures at Sixth Avenue and Lenora Street. But they won't house only plants.

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The domes are to be a place "where Amazon employees can think and work differently," the company said in a news release handed out during a media preview inside The Spheres on Thursday.

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"They are the result of innovative thinking about the character of the workplace and an extended conversation about what is typically missing from urban offices -- a direct link to nature," the company said.

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When they open in 2018, The Spheres will have space for about 800 people at any given time, but they will have no enclosed offices or conference rooms. Instead, it will be wide open across the five different levels.

Meanwhile, Seattleites can follow along on the Spheres' own Instagram account at @seattlespheres.

The Spheres are part of the growing new campus for the e-commerce behemoth in the Denny Triangle, with two towers already open in the last two years, another block under construction and yet another in planning stages.