First look: Inside Microsoft’s plan to reboot its original Redmond campus (7775 hits)
Today it takes 22 minutes to walk from one end of Microsoft’s sprawling 500-acre headquarters to the other. But that long-distance hike will shrink to a seven-minute stroll when the tech giant is finished with a major refresh of the original swath of campus, the storied ground from which the company rose to dominate the PC software industry.
Uniting the sprawling campus through better pedestrian access is a key aspect of Microsoft’s plans to redevelop 72 acres of its headquarters here. First announced in November 2017, the plans are now taking shape, and GeekWire got an exclusive first look at new images of the buildings, and more details about the company’s priorities for the project.
It’s a big upgrade — the real estate equivalent of going from PCs and CD-ROMs to artificial intelligence and quantum computing. And it comes as Microsoft returns to the top of the mountaintop in tech under CEO Satya Nadella. The years-long turnaround that has seen it become the most-valuable U.S. company with a market cap exceeding $1 trillion as of this morning.
The multi-billion dollar initiative promises to reshape Microsoft’s home, replacing the 1980s buildings where Bill Gates oversaw the company’s growth into a tech industry giant. In their place will rise a dense, modern campus, centered around collaboration, open spaces and sports fields, with a new skybridge over state Route 520 that will cut down on the walking commute between the east and west portions of campus.
