Inside Google's Innovative Toronto Office

Google set the creative office standard with fun work environments that spur innovation. (You might've seen a glimpse of this in the Vince Vaughn movie The Internship... but judging by its box office numbers, you probably didn't.) So we took a tour the firm's Toronto HQ.

The 58k SF office is spread across floors 11 to 16 at 111 Richmond St W. Facilities manager Andrea Janus showed us some of its office amenities not typically seen pre-Google revolution; HOK consulted Googlers to determine the look of the space and what amenities were included. Among its offerings: a fully equipped music room for staff to give lessons or "hang out virtually and jam" through a flatscreen with employees in other Google offices. There’s also a lounge where tipping back a hardcover on the bookcase reveals a door to a secret room, just like in the movies.

Google's office (in Oxford Properties' 111 Richmond, above) is seeking LEED-CI Gold. There are 45 bike parking stalls (with showers and change rooms), and employees can rent out G Bikes to run errands or go to meetings around town. Kitchen floors are made from recycled tires and the carpet tiles from 85% recovered fishing wire. Wood in the office is natural and sourced within Ontario, Andrea notes. There’s also rooftop vegetable gardens and a "Gardening With Google" club, featuring employee tutorials from the company’s in-house chef on how to grow their own herbs and vegetables.

Employee health and wellness is a key focus for Google, and the Toronto office reflects this. Staff have a fitness centre with locker rooms and showers (fully stocked with free toiletries). There’s a meditation room and wellness room where employees can regroup if they’re not feeling ship-shape. Google also subsidizes twice-weekly massage treatments in a dedicated treatment room, she tells us. And an on-site food team educates employees on nutrition options. It’s all about making Googlers’ lives easier, Andrea says, so they can focus on work and return home with extra time and energy for their families.

To encourage employee movement and mingling, Google’s office has micro-kitchens on each floor, with large communal tables and sofas — even a frozen yogurt machine in the 16th floor's "Ice Shanty"-themed kitchen. All food is complimentary. Video games (as seen above) and pool tables are scattered throughout the office— versus a designated games room—to facilitate mixing. Lounges have walls that can be written on. Two large patios feature mini-putt courses (the one seen above sports a Princes’ Gate theme.) The idea is to ensure Googlers have enticing ways to interact and collaborate, Andrea says, “not just grab coffee and go back to your desk.”