Zune headquarters mini-tour

Ever wonder where Zunes are designed? Well, right now it's all done in a fairly non-descript and temporary office building on Microsoft's sprawling campus in Redmond. (Soon enough a few hundred Zune employees will be packing up and moving to a new building that's currently under construction, though.) We recently got a chance to peek around the cube farm and spend some time with employees in the laid-back Zune lounge -- check it out!

Gallery: Zune HQ mini-tour

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[NONE @ May 9th 2008 12:45PM]

Sweet... a Shogun Warrior Godzilla.

Toys for boys have steadily gone downhill since the days of Shogun Warriors and G1 Transformers.

[Matthew @ May 9th 2008 12:36PM]

Wow, I'm so jealous. I wish my office was that cool.

[John @ May 9th 2008 12:57PM]

It looks cool but at the same time, way too retro...

[Blackstar @ May 9th 2008 1:16PM]

You want to work in a place where they can't afford ceilings and you have to use your projectors on bare walls with not enough room so the ventilation ducts block one third of your screen? OK, ya right. Looks like 70's retro hamster maze hell to me.

[staticmesh @ May 9th 2008 5:33PM]

Good job reading the article, Blackstar. You know, about that part that mentioned the office is under construction. Nope, wouldn't have interfered with understanding the photos at all.

[Blackstar @ May 9th 2008 9:49PM]

@ staticmesh My reading comprehension is fine. The remark was a double stab directed at both their lack of progress and Matthew's apparent sincere desire to work in a construction site because he thinks it's 'cool'.

Don't worry though. I'm sure your sense of humor will arrive with your Zune order. Although, some assembly may be required.

[cod_soup @ May 9th 2008 12:37PM]

Reminds me of IBM where the whole environment was designed by control freaks. The only thing missing is the 'THINK' sign and Room 101. Maybe Steve Balmer has taken up interior design?

[tekdroid @ May 9th 2008 4:31PM]

The clouds-and-rainbow motif with the bike in there and people together is enough to make me puke.

It's probably just me...

[gman @ May 9th 2008 12:42PM]

That office has every cliched item and look so that people will think "WOW! This place is COOL. Except that there's so much distraction and visual overload that nobody actually gets any work done. And it shows.

[JakeB @ May 9th 2008 12:44PM]

That office so calls for a football to be passed around. Environments that make people relaxed are the most productive. Google, Apple, Miscrosoft Zune, and a lot of gamming companies have proven that already. Now if only the Microsoft OS buildings were like that.

[Matt @ May 9th 2008 1:09PM]

I know I'm going to sound like an Apple hater, but from what I've read Apple doesn't seem like a very laid back place to work. I can't remember the name of the book I read for a management class, but it specifically said that Apple is a very tense place to work, that people are in danger of being fired at basically any time, and despite this seeming to be against common thought, it works very well for them. Mostly because Steve Jobs is so charismatic and everyone loves him there.

[Matias Korhonen @ May 9th 2008 4:36PM]

"Mostly because Steve Jobs is so charismatic and everyone loves him there."

I heard that he now has his employees calling him "Dear Leader". Also, they all have to learn his autobiography by heart.

[Jon Acheson @ May 9th 2008 12:44PM]

Pretty much the soul-crushing cubicle farm I expected.

There's not thing like bright, shiny ductwork to say "this space never intended for human habitation."

[Shane @ May 9th 2008 12:46PM]

Does EVERY 'modern' office design look like that? The past two places I have worked had very similar motifs.

Call it what you like...A cube farm is still a cube farm...So much for the 'social' philosophy of the Zune...or did they give up the 'welcome to the social' marketing?

I do like the fact that there seems to be a lot of 'bump into' space and places where people can go to get out of cubicle hell for a while.

[Tiffany @ May 9th 2008 1:43PM]

the vast majority of microsoft employees work in private offices rather than cubicles. microsoft just happens to have a severe space crunch right now, but there is a lot of building going on to rectify this.

[Handsome Ian @ May 9th 2008 12:47PM]

Anyone else find it ironic that the office is just a run of the mill box with some empty meeting spaces?

Welcome to the social.

[Chris @ May 9th 2008 12:56PM]

Anyone else find it ironic you can't read?

"Soon enough a few hundred Zune employees will be packing up and moving to a new building that's currently under construction, though."

[Handsome Ian @ May 9th 2008 1:20PM]

Well, Chris, there's reading and then there's comprehension.

The future building has nothing to do with the irony of the situation.
My comment was drawing a parallel between the capabilities of a generic mp3 player with tacked on and unused social features and a generic office space with unused meeting spaces (or in this comparison, 'social features').

Well done on your razor-sharp, 'yer mom'-caliber comment. Ten out of ten!

[Gary Combs @ May 9th 2008 1:44PM]

I take it you don't work in an office do you Mr. Handsome? Anyway, take your generic hatred out on something that is a generic mp3 player.

Oh and thanks engadget, this is cool. Just wanting a Blue Zune 80.

[Jordan @ May 9th 2008 4:09PM]

Just because it is their slogan does not mean it has to be relevant to their work space. It just has to be relevant to their product. I enjoy their product. If you don't like it, just say you don't like it. You don't have to be a bitch and ruin it for everyone else.

[jhaks @ May 9th 2008 9:47PM]

@ Ian

Tacked on and unused social features? So being able to share content is not useful? How about multi-player games? Maybe you don't have friends, but I guess I should expect that from someone who calls himself "handsome".

[Low Ranked @ May 9th 2008 12:48PM]

The flooring and furniture are super 70s retro-esque.

[Orlando @ May 9th 2008 12:55PM]

Ok ladies and gentlemen...
That is all for this tour.

Next stop is: Ipod-headquarters-mini tour.

[ENF @ May 9th 2008 8:53PM]

yup, and the first thing I imagine is a whole bunch of chinese guys..... with one hand they are assembling your future-to-be ipod touch and on the other hand they are sewing the latest nike AF1 sneakers.

[Rick @ May 10th 2008 12:40PM]

Ah, the designers were housed in a portable, now it all makes sense.

[ByronGman @ May 9th 2008 12:56PM]

LOL MIKE U R SO FUNNY WIT UR COMMENT THAT DUN RELATE TO THE POST AND HOW AWESOM U R BEING FIRST KAN WE BFRIENDS? OMG I WISH I WERE SO AWESOME AS U.

KTHANKX!!!!11!1!

[kurt.tappe @ May 9th 2008 1:07PM]

>"Ever wonder where Zunes are designed?"

No, and I never really wondered where Yugos were designed either.

[Warren @ May 9th 2008 1:40PM]

Best. Comment. Ever.

[itlnstln @ May 9th 2008 4:47PM]

They bitch because Engadget is too "Apple." Engadget tries to show some love to Microsoft, and they bitch some more...

[Sam Zebian @ May 9th 2008 1:06PM]

That place looks awesome... I soo want to work for MS... Still only 16 though, I've got to wait 'til after college to go to Redmond..

[justin @ May 9th 2008 1:29PM]

I'd petition for Engadget to give us a tour of Apple's iPod facilities, but if you've seen the back of a "head shop" in Berkeley then you get the idea.

[mike @ May 9th 2008 1:07PM]

OMGWTFBBQ111!!!!!!!!!11111!!! YES!

[mike @ May 11th 2008 9:22PM]

Why the hell did they remove my comment? ENGADGET SUCKS!

[Chris @ May 9th 2008 1:08PM]

knowing the other MS buildings im guessing the new location will be pretty wicked

[Neal @ May 9th 2008 1:16PM]

The new campus (posted links below to some info on it) will be just across the freeway from main campus. It used to be the headquarters for Eddie Bauer. The place where Zune is now, is a campus that used to house the Redmond site for Safeco Insurance (that company was just recently sold to Liberty Mutual).

[Neal @ May 9th 2008 1:11PM]

The cubes are due to the building, which was purchased from an insurance company who use to reside on the campus where this buildinfg is located, it wasn't designed for permanent use. The place they are moving is under construction and due to be occupyable near the end of summer to fall timeframe. You can see it being built (and check pictures from each day and see a timelapse) here:

http://oxblue.com/pro/open/?webPath=microsoft/westcampus

More info on the new Xbox/Zune campus:

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/338776_msftcampus08.html

Quote from above article -
"The company is also building one of the Western Hemisphere's largest underground parking garages -- with room for about 5,000 vehicles, on four stories. It will be beneath a central playfield and commons buildings on the West Campus."

[ChiWax @ May 9th 2008 1:22PM]

All the haters do not want info like that!!! They want to assume this is exactly the place where MS wants to develop the Zune. They don't need to hear that it's a temp building until another building is ready for the Zune peeps....come on!!!! Q.

[coffee @ May 9th 2008 1:39PM]

"Permit applications for the West Campus development reveal details that include a bar for employees amid the planned complex of four office buildings."

I've read enough. Submitted my resume.

[ugg.tryptophan @ May 9th 2008 1:14PM]

what are all those goodies in pic #8, i want to connect my zune to sequencer too!

[bubuschoeny @ May 9th 2008 1:38PM]

And over hear is our life-sized doll of Steve Jobbs. Notice the sharp Zune needles that we have radomly jabbed into the doll's body. Also notice the Ipod scanning devices at all entrances. On a funny note anyone caught with an Ipod in the office with out prior consent is brutally stoned with or excess supply of first generation Zunes. Okay who is ready for lunch.

[dazepro @ May 9th 2008 1:41PM]

Pic 18: Where is the Xbox 360, you figure if you are going to have a lounge area you should have something to do...

[computer.dude.28 @ May 9th 2008 2:34PM]

Yeah I was also expecting a Zune Home A/V pack..

[jollyllama @ May 9th 2008 1:48PM]

Apple bias!

[Heymbit @ May 9th 2008 1:49PM]

Is it just me or does the guy in picture 4 look like Steve Jobs?

[DaveH @ May 9th 2008 1:54PM]

They have CDJ's and turntables, I bet that no one there even knows how to work them. You can tell they never get used, because the covers are on the turntables. There is nothing worse than people trying to be cool!

[ericdano @ May 9th 2008 2:00PM]

It doesn't really matter. When Ballmer get's the axe soon, the Zune will be tanked.

[B @ May 9th 2008 2:05PM]

the question shouldn't be 'where' as much as 'why'?

[Evan @ May 9th 2008 2:45PM]

Wait, did you say "a few hundred Zune employees"? How can it take that many employees? Toshiba did all the nitty gritty hardware, is Microsoft so inefficient that is takes hundreds of employees to create software for a media player?

[retro77 @ May 9th 2008 2:54PM]

Good job at looking like an idiot. How many does it take to develop a product, market it and sell it? Please tell us.

[Blobbert @ May 9th 2008 6:41PM]

Toshiba did design the first Zune, but the new devices shipped last year were designed in-house, from what I've read.