Microsoft has offices in treehouses now

Wednesday, October 25, 2017, 6:21 PM - Tech giant Microsoft has unveiled a "most unexpected meeting space" at its Washington headquarters.

Inside a Pacific Northwest Douglas fir tree, you'll find a treehouse, equipped with a meeting room and a cedar deck workspace. It's one of three treehouses the company has planned, enclosed in a a 500-acre campus surrounded by trees and wildlife.

"Research shows that being in nature improves creativity, focus and happiness," Microsoft says in a promotional video.

"To embrace these philosophies, Microsoft built these spaces for employees."

The company says it wanted to go beyond the corporate trend of creating indoor green office spaces. Research and feedback suggested that, given the opportunity, many people would happily work outside.

Courtesy: Microsoft

“We want to bring more human touch back into the workplace,” said Bret Boulter, one of the campus' project leads, in the blog post.

“For people to be the most productive and create the best products, we want them to have that opportunity for collaboration. Any employee can take their device outside, have a meeting—even in a treehouse—and be just as productive.”

Two of the treehouses, which are available to use by all Microsoft employees, are operational with the third slated to open later this year.

The buildings were designed to grow with the trees and are expected to last at least 20 years.

“Being more creative and flexible with our workspace allows us to be more creative and productive in our work and the products we create," Shanon Bernstine, a business manager who worked on development, said.

"It’s like a little getaway."

Source: Microsoft