An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has officially opened the new Microsoft campus, One Microsoft Place in Leopardstown, Dublin.
Accompanied by Peggy Johnson, executive vice president, Microsoft Corporation, Cathriona Hallahan, MD, Microsoft Ireland, and Martin Shanahan, CEO, IDA Ireland, an Taoiseach said that Microsoft’s continuing presence and expansion, with more than 2,000 in the new campus alone made up of 71 nationalities, was an endorsement of Ireland.
The new €134 million, 34,000 sqm campus is described by Microsoft as “an important milestone in the company’s ongoing cultural transformation,” adding that the new work space facilitates team members from different parts of the business, with a diverse range of skill sets and roles, to come together as ‘One Microsoft’ to work together on behalf of local and global customers.
“The opening of this campus is a landmark day for Microsoft, which first came to Ireland 33 years ago, and a testament to the calibre of our tech talent who have contributed so positively to Microsoft’s global growth,” said an Taoiseach.
“As a flagship multinational investor, Microsoft has strongly endorsed Ireland as an investment location for the world’s top tech firms. The Government is determined to ensure that Ireland continues to harness emerging technologies for social and economic benefit.”
“Technology is rapidly changing how we live, work and play and Microsoft is a major force in driving this change,” said Peggy Johnson, EVP, Microsoft. “Working together as One Microsoft, we are bringing our talents together to achieve more — for our customers, our partners and our own employees. This wonderful new building creates the opportunity for the Irish based team to do more together by facilitating development, innovation and creativity. Our data scientists, AI bot builders and mixed reality game developers will work alongside our sales and marketing professionals to help bring the benefits of digital transformation to our customers, helping them to achieve more.”
Cathriona Hallahan, MD, Microsoft Ireland, highlighted the DreamSpace, where she said “innovation meets education”.
“We invested over €5 million in the creation of a dedicated innovation and education hub, DreamSpace, with a supporting digital skills programme. We plan to bring 100,000 young people and their teachers to our campus over the next four years to give them an understanding of the transformational nature of technology, equip them with the digital skills they need to engage fully with technology and encourage them to use their imagination to create their own future. Working with young people, the building’s legacy will be about cementing Ireland’s position as a global digital leader, while continuing to support our customers today and tomorrow.”
This theme was taken up by an Taoiseach, who reiterated the Government’s ambitions in the area.
“We are aiming to be a European leader in STEM education by 2026 and our enterprise policy is based around supporting research and innovation. Ireland is now ranked 10th globally for the overall quality of its scientific research, an increase of 26 places in 13 years. With this focused and ambitious approach, I believe we can make Dublin the tech capital of Europe,” said Mr Varadkar.
Microsoft said the new building creates a new standard in workplace design, which includes formal and informal work spaces; a range of facilities including a music room, a yoga pod, a gym, treatment rooms, a mother’s room, a pod cast room, a number of restaurants with varied cuisine types, hang out areas, play areas, relaxation rooms, all equipped with the latest Microsoft technology. All of which is set amid views of the mountains, the Leopardstown race track, the sea and with a walking trail around the perimeter of the building.
The design and layout of the building, said the company, has been based around the theme of mountains and lakes – at the centre of the atrium space is a wood carved mountain and a digital lake with an LED waterfall flowing into it. The employees are already making use of the different rooms, open spaces and relaxation areas, the company reports, to work together formally and informally to solve and anticipate customer challenges. People can choose to meet at bleacher seating, have quiet time in one of the many phone booths, or can have lunch at the beach cafe or Italian pizzeria, before picking up a daily-baked loaf of bread by the in-house baker.
Lead designers for the building were RKD Architects and Gensler, while Mace and CBRE provided project management services with BAM as the lead contractor working with its key MEP partner, Jones Engineering.
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