19 Jul 2021
Microsoft's Israel campus designed to focus on 'evolution of work' features large corporate gym
BY Tom Walker
A large health club plays a major role in tech giant Microsoft’s recently opened R&D campus in Israel, which was designed to "re-define office working".
Located in the city of Herzliya, the campus has been designed in partnership with Vered Gindi Architects and GSArch and utilises Microsoft’s concept of team-based “neighbourhoods”, which is based on the idea of being big enough to offer public interaction but small enough to give privacy when needed.
The 46,000sq m leisure space is meant to be part of employees’ social and cultural life and contains all of the elements of a daily routine – from a café with baristas, a "band practice room" and a 1,000sq m health club to sports facilities.
Among the guiding design principles were to lessen the campus’ long-term impact on the environment and to offer a flexible, inclusive workspace that can be "endlessly customised" to fit employee needs.
The corporate gym features a large floor fitted with cardio and strength equipment and a circuit training system.
Separately, there is also a large yoga and exercise room for employees to use.
Equipment in the gym has been supplied by Technogym.
The Herzliya campus is also the first in Israel to have secured LEED V4 Building Design and Construction Gold certification, making it one of the most sustainable buildings in the country.
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