One of the best known company in the world, Google, has a reputation for creating its various offices around the world based on the most popular search term of the specific location. The most frequently googled term in connection with Budapest is apparently "spa," so their office in District II was designed accordingly. Once engulfed in water, they could not leave the success of Hungarian water polo unaddressed, so it was also included in the concept.
Design was taken seriously: the conference room could easily be mistaken for a real pool, employees can lounge on bean bags by pool lockers or even work inside a sauna. The latter is made of real wood, which we believe must be uncomfortable after a few hours.
It is clear that the designers drew inspiration mostly from Széchenyi Bath and Gellért Bath: in many instances, the walls are decorated with archive photographs, and the antique furniture typical of classical baths are also scattered among the modern pieces.
It comes naturally that recycled materials were preferred in the implementation of Google's bath-based plan and Google insisted on using real plants, saying they exert a positive impact on the well-being of employees and their productivity.
We do not know whether such an environment is indeed beneficial to employees or whether it helps them focus on work, but spending your work hours in such a creative place surely leaves little room for complaints.
