Photo tour of the new Google office in Russia
On December 8, Google officially opened its new Russian office in Moscow. Work on its registration was conducted for 10 months. Managed the process of the designer Tatiana Ruegg. The one that worked on the interior of the almost legendary Google office in Zurich.
Readers of this blog remember that in late October or early November I already visited the central office of the largest portal of the Runet Mail.ru (report) And in the head office of the leading Russian search engine Yandex (reportage). Logical and inevitable was a visit to the office of Russian Google. But not everything was so simple.
When at the end of November we were writing off with company representatives, it turned out that they were just finishing moving and arranging a new place. And before the official presentation - December 8 - they do not let anyone in from outside. However, having shown perseverance and promising not to publish anything until the 8th, I managed to agree on an excursion until the day of the announced opening.
As far as I know, we are the only ones who managed to get a prelaunch inspection. By agreement with the PR-service of the company, this post was not laid out until 14:00 hours Moscow time on 8 December. And this is the first full-fledged material about the new Google home in Russia, since the journalists who are now at its opening have yet to write their reports. And this one is ready.
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So, in the middle of last week, we with photographer Tanya Makeeva went to watch and take pictures of Google's office. It is located almost in the heart of the capital, on Street Baltschug, 7, and occupies the whole floor in the business center "Balchug Plaza".
"Baltschug Plaza" is a business center of class "A". This means that the cost of renting space here, even by Moscow standards, is very big.
After receiving the pass, we went up to the fourth floor, where Google lodges. At two thousand six hundred square meters, apart from workplaces, accommodated 18 meeting rooms, 2 massage rooms, a cafe and a kitchenette.
At the entrance of visitors meets the reception desk, intricately decorated "under the brick":
Its appearance, as well as the entrance to the block of showers and toilets on the left, immediately forms an understanding that the design decision of the office did not go along the path of least resistance:
It is said that the employees of Russian Google also participated in the development of the concept of the new office. The task was to create a working space that would reflect the corporate culture of the company, but at the same time it had a "Russian soul". As a result, the choice fell on Russian folk tales and favorite cartoons and films in Russia. A large part of the office is decorated in the style of famous works.
Before we start the tour, we registered as visitors:
... And they received badges:
The name of the guest is the name, the company in which he works, and who exactly from the employees invited him to the office. This information is stored in the database. On photo it is visible, that behind me the PR-manager Google Alla Zabrovsky looks after me. It was she who, with the management's consent, gave kindness to our visit and accompanied us through the office. For both, she once again thank you very much.
Alla said that until recently the company's employees worked in two different places in Moscow. And now all departments - development, sales and marketing - about 100 people in total, gathered in one office.
In the same space where the registry is located, there are chess:
... Tennis table and table football:
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First of all, we went to the conference room "Pechkin", where, in addition to the screen for videoconferencing, a table and other attributes of such a room, there were purely decorative objects:
Personally, I found it amusing that a bicycle that was obviously not intended for travel and was indoors, apparently in an eternal parking lot, was a new, multi-speed bike in excellent technical condition. Pechkin could only dream about this.
Other negotiation, which also bear proper names, are decorated no less generously. This is how "12 chairs" look outside:
Inside:
Here is the "Frog Princess":
This is "38 parrots":
Tortilla:
And here is the view of Cheburashka:
By the way, Cheburashka is not even a negotiation room, but a small "voice box" where employees can come from open-space if they need to hold confidential conversation or just talk in silence.
In addition to those mentioned, there are also negotiations "Vrungel", "Kin-dza-dza", "Troubadour" and others.
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The largest hall is intended for general meetings of the whole collective:
They say that while there are enough places.
However, how long will they be enough to collect all the employees of Russian Google - a question. The company is growing. And even the workplaces were done with the reserve and the expectation that new staff would constantly join the team. Such empty and waiting for their future hosts tables in open-space a lot:
By the way, once touched jobs, it is worth noting that they stretch along the perimeter of the floor occupied by the company. And they look, as a rule, fairly informally:
As, however, and employees behind them working:
People in the office can be found at any time days, as part of the company's specialists work in Russian projects, and part - as part of international working groups. Thus, their working day can start not in the morning, but in the afternoon, in the evening or at night.
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An interesting story is the origin of the structures on the ceiling, which can be seen in some photographs. They pass on the top of almost the entire office and have a completely futuristic appearance:
These are real electrical, heat and water supply lines. Since they are too low, we decided not to remove them from the suspended ceiling, which in this case would be even lower, but on the contrary - decorate and emphasize.
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In addition to workplaces, there are places for recreation in the office infrastructure, in particular, two massage rooms. One of them - with a massage chair and a meditative ceiling:
The second - a cabinet for massage "in the old manner", manually. According to plan, soon there will be a full-time masseur:
And in one of the corridors we met a horizontal bar with a Swedish wall:
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In the center of the office is a very cozy space:
According to the designer's idea - this is the magic forest "Lukomorye". At the bar, employees can snack and drink coffee:
... Communicate with colleagues in an almost home environment:
Here is a small library with soft sofas and shelves for books:
The quantity and variety of edible stocks available to any employee in the bar, makes an impression. Absolutely all drinks and food are free of charge.
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But full breakfast and lunch, and also free, the company's employees can in the canteen canteen with the name "Samobranka."
This was the last point of our excursion. Photos "Samobraki", in my opinion, do not require comments:
From culinary abundance even some concern for the figures of the company's employees is born.
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That's all. I hope you were interested in looking into the Russian office of the world's largest search engine. In conclusion - my congratulations to Google with Moscow's new home and at the same time with the 5th anniversary of the creation of the Russian office, which is also celebrated by the company these days!
