Microsoft Corporation recently announced plans to revitalize its 500-acre Redmond campus with dramatic renovation and expansion work to be completed over the next five to seven years. The project will include the addition of 18 new buildings, 6.7 million square feet of renovated office space, $150 million in transportation infrastructure improvements, public spaces, sports fields and green space.  Upon completion of the project, the Microsoft campus will have 131 buildings of modern workspaces to accommodate 47,000 employees, with room to add up to 8,000 more people.

Microsoft has been headquartered in Redmond since 1986, and this project will modernize many of the historic structures on the campus. The new “refreshed” campus will feature more open space to capture more light and will be divided into “team neighborhoods” to promote personal creativity and innovation in the industry.   In addition, personal transportation will figure prominently in the design, as all automobiles will be moved to an underground parking facility in favor of bike paths and pedestrian walkways.  This concept will extend to Microsoft’s planned investment in the region, with construction of a foot- and bike-only bridge across WA-520 to connect both sides of the campus and eventually to join with Link Light Rail’s Redmond Technology Transit Station, to be completed in 2023.

More information about this exciting and transformative Microsoft project, including an entertaining 3-D video rendering of the development, can be found here.