Remember when your office got a new coffee pod machine?
There was a bounce to everyone's step, a twinkle in the MD's eye, a sense of purpose as the team united in a caffeinated high.
Just imagine how ruddy brilliant your nine-to-five would be if you moved into Google's new digs at 6 Pancras Square, King's Cross, London.
With 800 engineers moving in this week, followed by a larger shift of 2,000 employees over the next year, here's what Google's workers will be surrounded by.
6 St Pancras Square
The new 11-storey building offers 371,000 sq feet of office space - less than half the size of the £1 billion HQ Google had set out to build on a plot of land some 200 metres down the road.
While Google has a rethink of the designs for their own purpose-built home (apparently the first proposals were too boring), they'll be shifting a large amount of their operations to this building.
Chef Dan Batten
Bugger nipping out for a Pret - Google workers will be able to have their very own cookery classes with chef Dan Batten, who used to run Jamie Oliver's former Recipease shop, cafe and cooking school in Notting Hill.
Also, all food and drinks are free to staff. Free.
Gym surrounded by 90 metre running track
Google workers are busy. Busy making Android stuff. Exercise is important, but YouTube isn't going to run itself. And who really needs to run 100 metres anyway? You're not going to be Usain Bolt, you work for Google - 90 metres is more than enough running track.
This is their route from King's Cross Station
Ever walked through the halls of King's Cross and seen that glowing walkway and thought "What's at the end of that?". Well, it goes to One Pancras Square, next to Google's new office. So even their commute looks futuristic.
Sleeping pods
See this? It's a Metronap sleep pod. It costs £5,500. It's supposed to help you nap in the work place, with a sliding screen door encompassing you in a restful environment for getting 40 winks and helping you smash that quarterly report. Or just sleep off that hangover from last night's work drinks. Google's new HQ has five of them.
Hollywood Boulevard-style 'Walk of Fame'
According to the Evening Standard, Google has applied to the Camden council to create a Hollywood Boulevard-style set of pavement 17 red and white vinyl stars, honouring YouTubers who have 'a significant number of followers/subscribers'.
Vitra sofas
"Oh, our office has a sofa!"
Sure - but are they £17,000 sofas Vitra sofas? Thought not.
Adjustable desks
All of the desks in the office will be adjustable, meaning that you can either sit like a normal person, or stand like one of those people who read a piece on the internet about how office chairs were actually killing us.
Funky room names
Okay, so this isn't as cool as your own personal chef, but one of the rooms in the new office is drawing inspiration for its name from the nearby King's Cross station, gaining the title Platform 9 3/4 from the Harry Potter books. Better than 'Main conference room', right?
Massage suites
Daily grind got you down? Then how about popping to one of the massage suites in the lower levels of the new building? Seriously - that's what the Google is offering its workforce.
That's it, we're applying to join Google...
[Via: Business Insider]
