Lots of post nostalgia 

Like Hiltl, Google too built on Sihlpost’s rich history when it came to designing the building’s interior. Already at the reception, visitors are greeted by an old Swiss Post bicycle, moped trailers filled with plants, ancient post cards, lots of yellow accent colour and an original PTT letterbox. The latter now serves as a collection point for the employees’ badges at Google in Zurich.

A great deal of Post nostalgia can also be found in the restaurant and in the working rooms. For instance, the meeting rooms are called Briefwaage (letter balance), Telegramm or Posthorn and are reminiscent of oversized transport boxes. In the employee restaurant, the guidance system and the planted mail bags pay tribute to the former Swiss Post canteen. Personal objects and project documents can be stowed away by the employees in the lockable post boxes. The employees were strongly involved in the development of the interior design concept by the architects as part of focus groups. Google Switzerland relies on as much participation as possible in this area too: The more personal the working environment, the more identification with the employer.

Sober interior design for the venerable Swiss Post building

The colourful interior design that has become the hallmark of Google’s corporate facilities elsewhere is not to be found in Sihlpost. The tech giant wanted to “honour the venerable building with a corresponding interior design”, says Lucas Stolwijk, the facility manager in charge at Google in Zurich. In turn, the employees benefit from other amenities: for instance, they can enjoy the in-house restaurant all day free of charge, and treat themselves to a well-deserved break from the hard programming work in the internal cookery school or in the massage studio.

Google aims to continue investing in its Zurich site in the future: over the coming years, some 3,000 jobs are to be created at Europaallee, meaning that up to 5,000 “Zooglers” will work in the city on the river Limmat in the future. There are rumours that many different offerings will be created for the employees in the various buildings. It remains to be seen whether it will be possible to change floors using a trampoline or let off steam in a ball pool for adults.