First Commons Visit

I went over to The Commons for the first time this week. I have to say that it's quite impressive. It's a little weird seeing Microsoft employees bouncing a basketball outside of a shopping mall; kind of the same feeling you get when you walk through a university campus. It was pretty dead when Andrew and I went over there because it was around 3 p.m. and everyone was supposedly back at work. I brought my camera and took some pictures.

Andrew parked inside the new massive parking garage. Definitely a humongous garage and the biggest I've ever been in. They are still doing construction on some of the buildings, so some of the levels were for construction crew only. This picture is of the nice elevators for Studio D. The corporate buildings surrounding The Commons are called Studio A, B, C, and D. I'm guessing because they are for Microsoft's Entertainment and Devices section, but I think it's a dumb name.

Here is Andrew walking around outside the mall. Like I said, there was barely anyone there. There are small signs hanging out of the buildings that tell you what's inside. The building seen here is the bigger one called "The Mixer". It contains most of the restaurants and conference rooms. Across from there is the "Submixer" which is a little smaller, but also has restaurants and shops.

Here's the miniature version of Pike Place Market. They had lots of goodies for sale that you would find at the original.

At first, I wasn't sure what this "On Stage" area was all about, but I've figured it out. I thought one could hold a small meeting or karaoke competition there since there is a camera and two widescreen TVs to watch. It's actually a little area where one of the 14 restaurants can perform cooking demonstrations during lunch. Clever, but is it really necessary? Is the whole mall necessary?

This is inside the little Pike Place Market. They were putting away the food when we got there, so I didn't get to see too much of the stuff that you can order there for lunch. I know they have sandwiches, rotisserie chicken, and Chukar Cherries.

Regulation size soccer field at the end of the mall. It's open to anyone wanting to kick the ball around and can be reserved for company teams to practice or play on. Turf was artificial and had those little rubber balls that create the same feeling as actual ground. Makes more sense not spending too much money on maintenance, but it's freakin' Microsoft! Why not stick some GN-1 Bermuda grass in there? I want to try and get some guys at work together to kick the ball around.

Too busy to leave work to get a perm? Just head over to the salon and get your hair done.

Here is the middle or courtyard area of The Commons. I bet this place will look really nice in the summer.

A shot of one of the fountains in front of the mall.

There's an area inside called "Untethered" where all four of the major cell phone providers have stores right next to each other. Microsoft employees can choose between AT&T, Sprint, Verizon, and T-Mobile with special discounts on phones and plans. It's weird to see all these competitive companies stationed right next to each other. Andrew bought a new phone at the AT&T store and it was interesting to see how the other stores watched their potential commission walk away.

Some of the eating areas in The Mixer. The top floor has Steamers Seafood Cafe, Flying Pie Pizzeria, Chandy's Natural Café, Soups!, Quincy's Charbroiled Burgers, and a bunch of conference rooms. Downstairs, there is the Post Alley Caffe, Eastern Grill, Noodle Bowl, Pike Place Market at The Commons, The Street Vendor, Wraps 'n' Rolls, Eastside Ski & Sport store, First Tech Credit Union, The Post, and Untethered. The Submixer has Acapulco Fresh, Mayuri Indian restaurant, Mode Organic Salon and Mini Day Spa, and Watson Kennedy. They've also started including the Microsoft Library, Microsoft Visitor Center, Microsoft Company Store, and Employee Art Exhibition as part of The Commons. New Visitor Center is really nice and is open to the public to check out. The pub at The Commons is called Spitfire and it has its own separate building. Makes sense for a place that was named one of the greatest sports bistros in America by USA Today. Oh, and of course all of the buildings have corporate WiFi available so you can keep working.

Went inside Studio D and found this display in the lobby. Kirk, McCoy, and Spock beaming down to work. They are Microsoft employees and are responsible for the terrible Zune marketing.

I'll try to take more pictures the next time I go.