Microsoft's €134m Campus Opens in Dublin

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has officially opened the new € 134m campus of Microsoft in South Dublin.

The specially constructed 34,000 square meter building is now home to the Irish workforce of 2,000 employees.

Designed by RKD Architects, One Microsoft Place in Leopardstown took three years to build.

The managing director of Microsoft for Ireland, Cathriona Hallahan, said that the building is the physical manifestation of the cultural transformation that the company has been going through in recent years.

"Really since Satya Nadella took over as CEO of the company and redefined our mission, which is to train every individual and organization on the planet to achieve more," he said.

"What we are doing in this building is to bring all the teams together, be it engineering, operations or digital sales, and help them innovate in this new Microsoft culture."

Ms. Hallahan said it was a demonstration of Microsoft's commitment to Ireland for the long haul.

"We celebrated 33 years here in Ireland this year," he said.

"I believe that this building represents the future of Microsoft and we are opening the doors to our customers, the community, to have an impact on society in general."

He added that by demonstrating how all the different functions in Microsoft can fit in one place, Microsoft Ireland is optimistic that the company will continue to invest in its operations here.

On the ground floor a large open area called Dreamspace will be used to teach young people about the integration of science, technological engineering and mathematics in their learning and imagine what the future will look like.

Microsoft has set a goal of bringing 100,000 fifth-grade children to the transition year, along with their teachers, through the Dreamspace in the next four years, beginning in April and two dedicated staff members will work on the project to full time.

The entrance area of ​​the "Puerto" building on the ground floor leads to a large atrium area filled with natural light, where there is a "digital lake", a blue LED floor lighting area that resembles water.

There are no offices, instead the teams sit in the so-called "neighborhoods", with different operational areas mixed with others on each floor to encourage interaction.

The building has more than 80 meeting rooms, "focus group" rooms and also has space to seat 3,000 people together with a Technology Center similar to a theater.

The Internet of Things technology, together with data analysis, is being used to collect data on the use of the building and there are 350 km of IT wiring around it.

Other features include a gym and fitness room, a yoga studio, a nail bar, massage room and a fully equipped music room.

The ground floor also has a large canteen, a bakery and a barista counter.

Overlooking the Leopardstown racecourse, One Microsoft Place has the size of two Croke parks and the height of five double-decker buses.