One Microsoft Place

Located in Dublin, One Microsoft Place is the new European headquarters of Microsoft. The 35,000m2 campus spans five floors and accommodates 2,000 employees from 71 nationalities. RKD designed the building’s shell and core and worked in association with Gensler London on the interiors concepts. Our team’s primary objective was to create a physical manifestation of the cultural transformation that Microsoft has been through in recent years. Our design for Microsoft’s new campus workspace enables team members from across the business to collaborate as ‘One Microsoft’ and work on behalf of local and global customers. This is primarily achieved by the creation of a central atrium that acts as the heart of the building, connecting the many diverse teams that work within the property. At the outset of the project, our team visited Microsoft’s sites in Seattle, Stockholm and London to better understand its operations and requirements. While Microsoft required us to adhere to its corporate design handbook for specifics, such as the number of power outlets required, we were given complete control over the creative design, including the scale, form and fit-out of the facility. Taking inspiration from Ireland being an island full of young, talented and diverse people, our team created a concept focus around an island theme. Designed to foster collaborative ways of working and help Microsoft with its cultural transformation, the island theme maps out how visitors and employees interact with the space given their diverse needs: The ‘harbour’ is the arrival point, the ‘beach’ is a social space, the ‘mountain’ encourages users to progress higher and deeper into the facility, the ‘neighbourhoods’ provide workspace and meeting rooms, while the ‘trails’ provide a variety of routes for staff to circulate the building and its facilities. Through strong dialogue and collaboration, our design evolved over time to better reflect the needs of Microsoft and its workforce. The client-approved design provides an ultra-modern piece of architecture, reflecting Microsoft’s position as a world-renowned industry leader. For example, external anodised aluminium planks were selected both to enhance the building’s crisp, modern lines and to act as a stylish contrast to the solid stone plinth that underpins the structure. The building is orientated on a north west/south east axis to maximise levels of natural daylight and to take full advantage of its wonderful elevated setting with spectacular views of the woodland and Leopardstown Racecourse in the immediate surroundings, while Dublin Bay and the Dublin Mountains can be seen in the distance. The façade combines curtain wall and anodised rainscreen cladding to create a modern and striking appearance, which is in keeping with Microsoft’s position as a sector-leading business. The façades incorporate solar shading where necessary, to minimise solar glare and solar gain. The design of the property’s west-facing entrance resembles a pair of outstretched arms, enticing and welcoming visitors to enter the building. The building sits on a plinth of local natural stone, reflecting the building’s location in the foothills of the Dublin mountains. A key success of the chosen design was its ability to create a sense of intimacy despite that vast scale of the structure. From the exterior this was achieved by the carefully selected geometry of the façades, which ensure visitors rarely gain a full view of the building. Inside the property, the island theme with its winding trails throughout the various areas ensures a sense of intimacy in how staff discover and experience their workplace. The location of One Microsoft Place ensures it can be accessed easily by staff and visitors alike. The M50 motorway and a variety of bus and tram stops are all located within the immediate vicinity. For those traveling from further afield, Salthill and Monkstown train station and Dublin Airport are just 10 and 30 minutes away, respectively. We worked closely with the local authority to ensure our design met their requirements. However, we weren’t required to adhere to any local vernacular building styles as the estate features a wide range of building styles from numerous decades and the abundance of trees and woodland ensures visibility of the properties is limited. Two basement levels of the building incorporate a range of facilities designed to improve the wellbeing of staff, including a gym, yoga studio, faith rooms, treatment room and shower and changing rooms. They also provide secure underground parking for 215 cars and 24 motorcycles, along with dedicated electric vehicle charging points, and storage provision for 220 bicycles. Key areas of the ground floor include the arrival atrium, client meeting suites, main atrium, the 'mountain' staircase and digital waterfall, multi-use lounge, market bakery/servery, Italian Quarter, beach servery, street food bar and terrace. Also located on the ground floor ‘DreamSpace’. We worked in collaboration with Microsoft to design this space for the dedicated use of children. Each working day sees two classes of children invited to tour One Microsoft Place and then take part in IT-related classes and workshops within DreamSpace. Designed to foster an ongoing interest in STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) subjects, DreamSpace is a core element of Microsoft’s strategy to inspire the next generation of its workforce. The colours and textures of materials and the scale of furniture used in DreamSpace are different to what's found throughout the rest of the building as they've been carefully selected to suit the variety of age groups that visit and use the space. The first, second, third and fourth floors provide a wide variety of open plan office space and meeting rooms collectively known as 'neighbourhoods'. These are interconnected by a range of 'trails' - winding pathways that encourage staff to interact and socialise with their colleagues. Each of these four floors are accessed via the 'mountain' staircase and overlook the stunning ground floor atrium. More than 25,000 individual and varied pieces of furniture are located throughout the building, ensuring staff can always find a comfortable place work, relax and socialise. The roof level includes additional plant and services, a green roof area and a large terrace with panoramic views of the Dublin Mountains.