Microsoft Builds Treehouse Meeting Rooms For Employees
For most people, working in a tech firm often implies a swanky building filled with air-conditioned rooms brimming with computers. However, Microsoft is looking to change that perception by building treehouses for its employees.
While Google and Apple have already made headlines with their creative, unique office environments and cool new "spaceship" campus respectively, Microsoft is taking sustainability to a higher level, literally. The Redmon-based company has already built three treehouses to be part of their "outdoor districts" which are connected to buildings around its Redmond campus.
Two of the treehouses are open and are already completed. A third treehouse is currently being constructed which is a sheltered lounge space and due to be finished later in the year. They can serve as meeting rooms for employees to use, as well as casual spaces where they can pop in and work surrounded by nature complete with weatherproof benches, hatches that hide electricity sockets, rustproof rocking chairs, a fireplace, wood canopies, and an outdoor Wi-Fi network.
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Ramps are also located for those who need them and if employees get hungry, the treehouses also have an indoor cafeteria. It even has a barbecue restaurant built into a shipping container.
The treehouses are creations of Pete Nelson who is known for his reality series "Treehouse Masters" on Animal Planet. They are expected to last 20 years and are made to expand to accommodate the trees' growth.
Microsoft revealed that they had been planning renovations to their Redmond offices for a while and asked employees what they cared about the most. Many of them said they would like to work outdoors more which led to the idea of the treehouse offices.
Tech firms always had a reputation for giving their employees amenities that "traditional" corporate employees can only dream about. With this recent development, it's probably safe to say Microsoft will be getting resumes for job seekers looking for a clean and green workspace.
