Project Details
- Project Name
- Microsoft Domicile
- Location
- Lyngby, Denmark
- Architect
- Henning Larsen
- Client/Owner
- Microsoft
- Project Types
- Office
- Project Scope
- New Construction
- Size
- 194,000 sq. feet
- Year Completed
- 2015
- Shared by
- Selin Ashaboglu
- Project Status
- Built
Project Description
FROM THE ARCHITECTS:
Henning Larsen Architects announced that it has completed
Microsoft Domicile, a new 194,000-square-foot building that unites the global
software company’s Danish facilities under a single roof. Its inclusive
environments support cooperation at all levels: between internal staff, clients
and partners, and the local community.
The design of the building was guided by the
knowledge-sharing principles that form the heart of Microsoft’s business model,
which are outlined in a white paper written by Bill Gates, “The New World of
Work”.
Unlike Apple, Facebook, Google, and other high-tech firms,
whose imposing headquarters are at odds with their suburban settings, Microsoft
Domicile is intentionally designed as part of a larger urban campus, accessible
and neighborhood-oriented. The ground floor of the building features facilities
that are open to the public—a café and auditorium—as well as places for
students from the nearby Technical University of Denmark to study.
This inclusive, cooperative program continues throughout
the design of the offices. A pair of cubic buildings, rising six and seven
stories, come together around a V-shape, sunlit atrium that acts as a locus for
interaction. Windowed offices and meeting rooms overlook the central space,
engaged in a visual dialogue across the atrium. Activity-based workspaces of
various sizes, from small meeting spaces to midsize conference rooms to large
auditoriums, encourage group-based productivity. On every floor, communal
kitchens, lounges, and gaming areas act as hubs for casual gatherings, which
reinforce the shared mission of the Microsoft teams.
Henning Larsen’s holistic approach to Microsoft Domicile
extends to the landscaping and sustainability program. The landscape of small
green plazas links the building to the surrounding town. Several studies of the
microclimatic conditions on the site have informed the planning of the
landscape. Facts about wind, sun, and shade qualify the work of the landscape
architects in order to provide optimal conditions for both vegetation and
humans. Microsoft Domicile marks an important step in the realization of the
Lyngby-Taarbaek municipality as a northern European center of research,
learning, and knowledge-intensive businesses. Microsoft Domicile was developed
in close collaboration with Microsoft and the investor, Danica Pension. Joining
Henning Larsen Architects on the project team was turnkey contractor Hoffmann
and consulting engineers Alectia, Cowi, and Grontmij.