Office Snapshots » Microsoft

Hotdesking at Microsoft’s Amsterdam Headquarters

Stephen Searer — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 19:00:30 +0000

How do you fit 1000 Microsoft employees into an office and achieve social interaction and collaboration? Hotdesking.

Just in time for our earlier discussion on hotdesking, we’ve come across some images of Microsoft‘s Amsterdam headquarters. Designed by Sevil Peach and Veldhoen + Co., a leading activity-based workplace consulting firm, the office space has no assigned desks and no offices for senior employees. The office layout also gives the company a chance to actively show off the flexibility of their software in a working environment.

To enhance working collaboration, the design boasts a variety of types of work areas that include “teamwork benches, enclosed and semi-enclosed meeting rooms, open informal meeting areas, concentration booths, individual work carousels and work lounges.”

Beyond work, employees are also given opportunities to mix, mingle, and relax throughout the space using another set of office design parts; a coffee shop and indoor and outdoor staff dining, as well as relaxation zones and sleep pods. The coffee shop is located on the first floor, in an area designed to hold large numbers of employees to encourage interaction from entry-level employees to executives.

Employees are also given lockers in which to store personal belongings.

Microsoft, in a 2010 press release believes that the space has worked wonderfully. They note that the new style of working has given the following benefits:

A 30% reduction in real estate costs
Increased productivity
Enhanced market reputation and ability to attract and retain top talent
Increased employee mobility
Benefits for the environment

What about employee resistance? Microsoft did not just spring the idea onto employees either. The design process took several years, included employee feedback, and was a natural step for the already mobile workforce. [For additional information on this process, read this interview]

Photography by Gary Turnbull, Harold Pareira

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Microsoft’s Garage of Innovation

Stephen Searer — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 14:00:05 +0000

We’ve had the opportunity to see a couple Microsoft office spaces, but their latest space, the Garage of Innovation is something else. Designed by Studio O+A, the Garage of Innovation is meant to give employees an outlet for creativity beyond the regular desks.

One way of doing this is to equip employees with all sorts of gadgetry from soldering benches, 3d printers, and a laser cutter to help get some of that creativity out into the real world. Employees are encouraged to use the space as they need, though most likely as long as their regular work is being finished.

“It took six months to remodel the 60,000 square foot building. Now, the building has huge open gathering spaces and plenty of new windows to let in daylight. Sprinkled around the building are new “pods,” temporary work spaces where teams of two, three, or five employees can set up shop to collaborate on projects for weeks at a time.”

We’ve seen a number of other spaces created by Studio O+A, such as Yelp, Aol, and Facebook, and while this project reflects the company;s design style, it has many new elements that give the space a fresh and appealing vibe.

The garage theme for the space came from the inspiration of companies such as Amazon, HP, or Google and is carried beyond just the name. Several space dividers are actually garage doors that can be opened or closed depending on the needs of the space’s users.

Many of the furniture options that we can see from the photos are classic mid-century iconic Eames pieces, while others look as though they are fabricated on an as-needed basis like the OSB side table.

Check out a more in-depth writeup from CNET here.

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Microsoft – Pioneer Studios Office

Stephen Searer — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 13:00:48 +0000

When you think of Microsoft, you typically think of dry, boring, and bland. Hopefully that will change after today’s office. Microsoft’s Pioneer Studios space is wonderful. Here is some information on the space from the designe company, SkB Architects:

Microsofts Entertainment and Devices (E & D) division needed an inspiring, flexible studio where ideas could incubate and creative expression could flow unhindered. In addition to a focus on collaboration and conceptual development, the space also needed to socialize at night as well as it functioned during the day.

To promote dialogue and encourage the cross-pollination of creative ideas through collaboration, the project team created a transparent, open workspace with intimate niches and adaptable areas. The central spine where technology stations are docked is easily reconfigurable, enabling individuals to add another monitor for their own use or adjust their workspace to be in closer proximity to another team member.

And with regard to the design…

To brighten the interior and instill a feeling of connectivity, the project team replaced a solid wall adjacent to the existing stairwell with multi-story glass panels. Opening the wall also helped make the existing skylight more prominent, flooding the open kitchen and entertainment space with light.

Maintaining the flexibility required of an inspirational, incubation space, the top floor includes a white board partition that can be adjusted to create one large gathering space or two more private, smaller rooms. Equipped with an AV system, the space is also positioned to host public gatherings and planned events.

(click images to enlarge)

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Microsoft Belgium Offices

Stephen Searer — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 13:00:25 +0000

When you are an intergalactically recognized company, everyone is going to be fairly critical of your office spaces. Thats why when we first posted about their offices, some people felt like they were pretty drab.

That being said, their Belgium space is quite a bit different. Its features are appealing, though it has a very corporate feel, but not so corporate to be stifling. One of the things I’ve noticed with large company office spaces are that they want to have the designed feel, but do not really take the time that small design companies do. Whether or not they need to is a different story, but a fact is a fact. This space, however interesting the colors and furniture choices, is still very much corporate.

(click images to enlarge)

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Microsoft Bellevue, Redmond, and Seattle Offices – Video Tour

Stephen Searer — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 14:00:00 +0000

This video isn’t a comprehensive tour showing closeups of workstations, but it does give us a good idea of some of the perks that come with being a Microsoft employee, or Microsoftee. The tour is led by a guy that seems like a part-time college resident assistant, in a video that seems like a college recruiting video, but whatever, it does a pretty good job of showing off their campus to potential Microsoft employees.

It shows some highlights of the Redmond, Bellevue, and Seattle office spaces. Enjoy!

Find out if Microsoft is hiring and see what employees are saying:
Microsoft Jobs, Microsoft Salary, Microsoft Reviews, Microsoft Interview Questions

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