Living Offices | S04E02 | Microsoft, Portugal
Lisboa, Portugal [Go to PT Version]
Microsoft is an international technology company that has been in Portugal for the last 30 years, with over 1300 employees and more than 3000 partners.
The headquarters building is located in Lisboa at Parque das Nações and has been renovated to better reflect its culture and the changes in business and work. The renewed home is more inviting and offers better conditions to receive for partners, peoples and community projects.
Office File
Empresa: Microsoft
Localização: Lisbon, Portugal
Área Total: 6.200 m2
Ano: renewed in 2019
Capacidade: 1048 people
Indústria: Software
Office Design: Openbook
When we enter the space we feel immediately invited to visit and get to know its corners. The warm colors and materials, convey the sense of comfort that follows us through space. The artwork made by Charles do Rosário, a Portuguese artist, was created to show the fusion between two striking people of the Microsoft and Portuguese culture.
The Portuguese geography was incorporated into the building by attributing the names of Portuguese regions from the northern, center and southern wings of the country. On the ground floor the rooms have names of cities, on the 1st floor the names are inspired in rivers and mountain, on the 2nd floor there are names of beaches and on the 3rd floor the names of national monuments.
Reception
The reception area is in the ground floor, prepared to receive anyone from the community, partners and clients.
In this floor we can find details of the Portuguese culture. Materials such as cork panels are used, Burel textiles, “Gonçalo”chairs with Portuguese design or Bordalo Pinheiro ceramic pieces, stating theunion between the two cultures.
The spaces where thoroughly thought according to the collaborators who use it. The work areas have multifunctional meeting and training rooms, spaces that facilitate brainstorming moments, that make us feel as if we were at home or between the comfort and elegance of a hotel.
All spaces were designed to consider inclusion and accessibility. Everything was thought out in detail, from the Braille signs, the Gender Neutral bathroom and to the openness of the space that allows people with diverse mobility needs to move comfortably. The training room has a folding screen wall that easily allows the size of the room to be changed, along with furniture easy to move around to adapt to the guests needs.
The cafeteria invites anyone from the community, costumers and external people to come in and take a break for lunch or coffee.
Offices
The working areas are extend through the 1st and 2nd floor, with about 890 collaborators that work based in Portugal for the rest of the world, dedicated to the support of Microsoft products. The offices seek comfort at every level, from the organization of spaces for individual or team work, to more private spaces such as the doctor’s office and the breastfeeding room.
The natural light of the city of Lisbon comes into the work space through the building glass facade. This bright environment welcomes indoor plants that grow in several locations of the office. In these areas we find islands with tables and benches, and long tables that may be raised whenever someone prefers to work sitting or standing.
To meet collaborators diverse needs, in the same work space there are glass rooms that provide more privacy in meetings, smaller compartments like the phonebooths used mostly to quick calls, in the middle of the open work areas.
The building has more than 500 workstations, 105 rooms - all equipped with Microsoft Teams Room system that allows a collaborative and easy experience between the employees in this office and the other 500 that are offsite.
The policy of use of the spaces is ‘hot seat and clean desk’, in lign with the Microsoft spirit, always to be in motion.
Meeting Rooms
The meeting rooms are sized to receive between 6 to 12 people. They are enclosed spaces but with glass walls and curtains, that guarantee privacy when necessary while being also within the visual field of the entire office. For face-to-face meetings, the rooms already reflect the sustainable goals, providing glass cups and water bottles.
Eating Areas
In each office floor there is a small pantry where collaborators can take a break and pick up fresh fruit or drink a coffee.
Serving the two floors there is a bigger pantry with a large area to sit and have lunch together. Some collaborators bring their own lunch that they may keep in the fridge or heat using one of the microwaves in this space. During the day, there are sandwiches, coffee and other snacks available to everyone. On sunny days, people use the deck for those break moments.
Sounds of the Office
“No one works in the same workplace every day. We have our own locker to put our things, but during the day we sit wherever we want. Therefore we are able to enjoy the space much better. There are many common work rooms, training rooms and phonebooths where we can make a call.”(Inês Monteiro)
“What I most value about this office is homeliness. Every morning, when I come to the office it’s like arriving home again. I only feel out of home when I’m out of the office or when I’m driving. In this space, all colors are homogeneous, with whites and wood and cork making the space very cosy, bright and comfortable.” (Sérgio Matos)
“This is a space where I feel very good while working. I like to come here. It’s a space that has a lot of impact on our customers, visually and functionally. It’s a place people want to come to and where they like to return.”
(Rita Lírio Marques)
