You have seen it in The Internship. The Hollywood film that was later dubbed an unofficial advertisement for the Google's work culture amply showed what is inside one of the world's top technology companies. But yet, seeing the campus in person is a different experience. Depending on where you are coming, you expect something different. And Google office experience mostly turns out to be different. It is indeed a campus with difference.
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Although funky offices are not exactly new in the world of technology, the scale and size of the Google campus still makes it rather unique. Almost all big tech company offices offer free food and an environment that lets the geeks do their things, whether that thing is doing laundry at 3pm on a work day or preparing the project report after a swim in the office pool. But then Google is one of the early pioneers of this work culture where there are no office timings and in a way no separation of office from home. Seeing the tech work culture inside the place where it all started is still a kind of unique experience.
At the same time, you get to feel amazed how regular the Google office feels. For a company that is worth over $100 billion, the Google office is surprisingly friendly. It is also low on imposing insignia, that offices and installations of world's most powerful organisations and companies seem to usually bear. The whole Google campus consists of four buildings -- Building 41, Building 42, Building 43 and Building 44. These are regular low-rise buildings and not some towering mass of stone and metal. The Google has pretty tight security and rooms are access controlled. But once you have the key, most of the areas open to you. There are no overbearing security guards, no top secret protocols and even as visitor (which I was) you mostly feel at ease and welcomed.
When you enter the Google office, you are immediately greeted by company's now-familiar bicycles. Googlers can use these bicycles to move around in the campus. These are all over the campus. Pick one, use it and leave it in the nearby stand.
Inside its office Google has many places where it shows its search pedigree. The screen on this wall are connected to a search console. You search for something, images of that thing shows up on the screen.
In the middle of the four main buildings in the Google campus, there is an outdoor cafe. Technically these are just chairs and sitting space, but you can grab free food from the nearest cafe and sit here. Or you can just soak in the sun on the colder days in Mountain View.
There is lots of free food in the Google campus. Here is some bread during the lunch hour in Chrlie's Cafe, which is the main cafe on the Google campus. Charlie was Google's first chef and although he no longer works with Google, the company remembers him fondly through the cafe named in his honour.
Inside the Charlie's Cafe there are many stations devoted to various cuisine. There is even one called Dakshin that serves south Indian food. Fun fact: Google's current CEO Sundar Pichai is from south India.
Yes, more free food during lunch. This one was at the station serving east Asian food.
If there is one thing that can match the ubiquity of food inside Google campus that is the Android. The statues of Android, in their myriad avatars, are everywhere inside the Google headquarters.
Yoshka's Cafe is not as big as Charlie's. But it is big part of Google's culture as it is named after Yoskha, a dog owned by Urs Holzle. When he joined in 1999, Holzle was the 8th employee at Google, and since then has been one of its most important. As his stature rose in the company, his shaggy and big dog too enjoyed the limelight and became part of Google's folklore.
Inside the lobby of the first Google building -- now there are four -- is a replica of the Space One.
In the lobby of each building there are umbrellas. For those rainy days, you see. Even inside the Google's sunny headquarters there can be occasional rainy days.
These are two buildings part of the big campus. Two more are there on the other side, in front of these buildings.
Other than the big cafes, the whole of Google campus is full of micro kitchen. The idea is that employees should have never be more than 12 feet away from a kitchen. Or in other words, it's not an office. It's your home. Micro kitchens have fruits, snacks and healthy drinks.
Drinks in micro kitchen. The healthier drinks are visible behind the glass. The sugary drinks and soda cans are in the bottom compartments, and not visible unless you open the refrigerator.
Yes, you can do laundry inside the Google campus if that is what you require.
Sometimes, just so that you don't always eat in a cafe, the Google campus also get to see food trucks. These trucks come in at the invitation of Google and food is free for employees.
No, this is not a food truck. It's a mobile saloon for Googlers who are working so hard that they don't get time to go for a haircut. Well, now the barber is in the office.
Shark's fin. This is an-all metal art work placed outside one of the Google buildings.
This dinosaur is Google's pet dinosaur. The full-size skeleton was apparently bought by Google co-founder Sergei Brin, who then brought it to the office.
You would think that the Google office will be all clean and methodical. Well, it is well managed but managed in a way that also gives an impression of controlled chaos. The idea is to let the building be a part of natural environment of the area. There are areas in the campus where grass seems wild and the trees are untrimmed. Controlled chaos, just broad rules, and no micro-managing flora and fauna. Probably just like Google in general.
The stairs that show live searches. These are the stairs to success, or so it seems, at Google.
