Microsoft Silicon Valley Where humans and habitat thrive in harmony
- Client Microsoft
- Location Mountain View, CA
- Size 643,000 sq ft of new and renovated campus
- Completion 2020
- Program Open workspaces, breakout spaces, executive level offices, recreation center, courtyards, café, theater, parking structure, 4-acre living green roof/pathway, roof deck/terrace, conference center, technology center
- Sustainability LEED Platinum, Targeting LBC Petal Certification (Water, Health + Happiness, Equity, Beauty), and WELL Building, LBC Net Zero Carbon Certified
- Delivery Negotiated GMP
- Photographer Bruce Damonte
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Awards
AIA COTE Top Ten Award (2021)
Structures Awards, Silicon Valley Business Journal (2021)
AIA SF Award, Environmental Campus Design Special Commendation (2022)
National Institute of Building Sciences Innovator Award (2022)
WoodWorks, Wood Design Awards, Commercial Wood Design - Low Rise (2023)
When Microsoft hired us to re-envision their Mountain View campus, the company was looking to reposition itself in Silicon Valley to attract talent and innovate into the future. Their existing campus, built in the 1990’s, consisted of five office buildings interspersed by parking lots.
Constrained by traffic, environmental degradation, and poor walkability, the project challenges were compounded by California’s ongoing drought. Microsoft’s imperative to update the campus to support an increase in employees, foster well-being, and model environmental sustainability put a fine point on the need for an integrated approach to planning and design.
A reimagined campus
Nestled low into the landscape, the reimagined two-story campus now offers a workplace that synthesizes the well-being of both people and the environment. Employees will just as likely delight in their individual workspaces—light-filled spaces crafted of unadorned, honest materials like wood and concrete that look onto vegetated courtyards—as they will the expansive living roof, featuring eateries, fitness amenities, and trails leading out to the nearby creek. regenerating local habitat and site ecology.
A spirit of reuse over replacement
In line with Microsoft’s commitment to the circular economy, we opted to reuse two buildings, reducing material waste and minimizing operational disruption. The existing buildings provide 36% of the new campus footprint, significantly minimizing embodied carbon.
“Many buildings start with a design concept and work backwards to mitigate harm to the local ecosystem and natural resources. Our design started with a different goal in mind—could we design a building that was actually beneficial and restorative to the local ecosystem? We think we’ve achieved just that.”
Inside-out approach
The inside-out design strategy arose from a deep investigation into Microsoft’s culture and operations. While leadership sought a community-driven workplace, interviews revealed that engineers favored small, quiet spaces for solo or paired work. The solution was a series of human-scaled neighborhoods that balanced privacy and collaboration, fostering a sense of ownership among distinct groups.
We explored nine space types ranging from collaborative to private, ultimately narrowing them to three that struck the right balance. The front-runners offered a flexible platform for authentic, personalized work experiences, while creating an environment where employees could move easily between focus and collaboration. The space types guided our site analyses and allowed us to identify a preferred option that delivers a holistic, inside-out campus experience.
Workplace Neighborhood Typologies
Indoor/outdoor integration
Design leverages Mountain View’s Mediterranean climate, creating shaded, comfortable outdoor conference rooms with seamless tech integration. These spaces enable Microsoft’s creatives to work and socialize outdoors year-round. This approach allowed us to capture outdoor usable space without tapping into the FAR.
A walkable campus with diverse amenities
Inspired by the dense, mixed-use neighborhoods of great walkable cities, the campus generates a human-scaled experience of discovery and prospect in which people are invited to wander through alleyways, up staircases, around outdoor decks, and along the green roof’s many pathways. Amenities include dispersed and differently scaled gathering areas, recreation zones, food and beverage stops, a café overlooking Stevens Creek in which the whole campus can gather, and a public tech center that houses galleries and a theater.
Campus Programs
The main dining amenity on campus is designed as a market hall with multiple food offerings.
This area acts as the heart of the campus, centrally located near the hub courtyard at the intersection of primary circulation pathways across campus. The hospitality vibe attracts people at all times and also serves as the all hands space for the campus.
Located near the fitness and parking areas, the juice bar is a focal point for social interaction, encouraging healthy drink choices as employees enter/ exit the campus after work.
With a capacity of 299 people, the auditorium is ideal for after-hours networking events featuring industry experts and guest speakers, fostering engagement among employees, clients, and the broader Silicon Valley community.
This double height space with a dynamic digital art installation expresses Microsoft’s brand to the external world and is used as a pre-function space for the campus’s conferencing center.
This area showcases the company’s innovative products to dignitaries, executives, and VIP guests. Situated in a re-purposed building on the campus, the CEC reflects the brand’s identity while fostering an intimate, professional atmosphere.
Cross-laminated timber: performance and wellness
As one of North America’s largest mass timber projects at the time of construction, the campus embodies Microsoft’s goals for low-carbon construction, employee well-being, and supporting local industry. Extensive use of CLT—including structural components that double as interior finishes—offers a warm aesthetic while minimizing materials. This approach resulted in an estimated 35% reduction in embodied carbon.
Energy efficiency
Despite a 40% increase in employee capacity and tripling the landscape, design reduced water consumption by 57%. Rainwater is captured in two 60,000-gallon pretreatment tanks, filtered, and then stored in four blending tanks at 75,000 gallons each. Building wastewater is collected, then treated through a series of packed-bed filters, vertical wetlands, membrane filters, and ozone and UV disinfection before it is stored in the blending tanks.
Water conservation and management
Despite a 40% increase in employee capacity and tripling the landscape, design reduced water consumption by 57%. Rainwater is captured in two 60,000-gallon pretreatment tanks, filtered, and then stored in blending tanks. Building wastewater is collected, then treated through a series of packed-bed filters, vertical wetlands, membrane filters, and ozone and UV disinfection before it is stored in the blending tanks.
The campus features an on-site water treatment facility designed to achieve net-positive water usage, with plans in place to meet 100% of potable water needs. This pioneering approach required collaboration with city officials, fostering a spirit of innovation and setting a precedent for future water management practices in Mountain View. Visible filter systems, wetlands, and tanks highlight the client’s commitment to ecology and community.
Water management and local ecology
The project’s water filtration and conveyance system mimics Stevens Creek’s natural watershed, enhancing local ecology. Stormwater from the campus’s sidewalks, green roof, and landscape is channeled through wet meadow biotreatment and retention basins, infiltrating the banks of Stevens Creek. This process revitalizes the soil, restores the natural habitat, and ultimately directs clean water into the San Francisco Bay.
Regenerative site ecology and habitat restoration
A regenerative approach, guided by the area’s pre-industrial condition, led to the reintroduction of native ecology and the restoration of nearby Stevens Creek. Historically, riparian and oak habitats were prevalent in this area; in addition to planting nearly 600 trees, the habitat enhancement along Stevens Creek benefits over 50 species, including migratory songbirds, terrestrial mammals, and butterflies. Improvements to a well-loved public trail invite the wider community to explore and enjoy the revitalized creek and its natural surroundings.
HABITAT RESTORATION
“From an equity perspective, they [Microsoft] worked a lot with their community of employees but went beyond to look at the habitat and public trails around the site and how their water management helps with the ecosystem as well. They go beyond their own employees in who would benefit.”
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