Google is constantly being named as one of the best companies to work for. It feeds its employees three gourmet meals a day for free. It offers them a crazy array of perks from yoga classes to massages.
So we asked for a tour of the famous Googleplex, hoping to see cool spots like the bowling alley or one of the seven fitness centers.
Unfortunately, Google's PR folks asked if they could review and approve our photos before we published them. We declined, but we were allowed in the campus and the land Google owns around its offices, including the sculpture garden and the outdoor cafe.
The Google campus is located in a quiet town called Mountain View. Trees are big. Google signs are low to the ground, so the campus almost feels hidden.
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The Googleplex is composed of scores of buildings that sprawl across Mountain View, Calif. At the top are tennis courts, at the south end is the 101 freeway.
Here's the main front entrance to the three buildings at the heart of the campus. This spot was featured in the movie about Google called "The Internship," shot at the Googleplex.
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Here's the volleyball court in the center of campus. It was also featured in the movie. No one was using it this day.
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Google's color scheme is primary colors, used on everything, like these free campus bikes. Employees can use them to ride around the 'Plex. Don't want to ride? You can let these valets fetch and park your car for you.
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Here's where they invented Google Glass. I got to try Glass while I was there and was blown away by how well the voice command system worked.
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Here's where they create the Android operating system. There's a statue for every version of Android, all named after sweet things to eat.
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Here's the newest statue, KitKat Android. There's Gingerbread and Ice Cream Sandwich, Cupcake and Honeycomb, too.
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The Googleplex is a tourist attraction. There were lots of people wandering around taking photos. These folks are shooting the Android and Android Donut statues outside the Android building.
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This is a massive Android statue peeking out of the Android building. Its eyes glow red when the sun sets, so it's kinda freaky looking at night.
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New Google employees are called "Nooglers" (pronounced "NEWglers") This is the Noogler statue dedicated to them.
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Public art is everywhere. Here are some very tall statues in front of the Android building.
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This is the famous Google dinosaur statue filled with twirling flamingos. The founders bought it to remind Googlers to stay creative and not let the company become irrelevant like a dinosaur.
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There is a statue garden in the main campus area filled with random busts meant to inspire. This is an effigy of Lloyd Bridges to honor his role in the 1960s TV show "Sea Hunt."
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Google has two organic gardens on site. They grow veggies and herbs for the restaurants.
The gardens are part of a society that trains and educates others on horticulture.
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There gardens also have tables and chairs as a quiet meditative spot for employees.
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This is perhaps the most famous, familiar view of the Google campus, the outdoor cafeteria with colorful umbrellas. Primary colors are everywhere on campus, giving it a "preschool" feel.
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A lot of employees commute every day to the 'Plex. Electric cars are everywhere and so are electric charging stations.
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Lots of Valley companies have EV charging stations, but Google's massive EV parking lot is solar powered. Solar panels cover the carports.
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The parking lot was filled with Tesla electric cars. Rows of them.
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At the north edge of campus Google built a park with tennis courts, soccer fields, fitness stations, Frisbee golf. Its lights are powered by a giant bank of solar panels.
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The park is next to a big swath of public lands with trails and an amphitheater, but Google's park is not open to the public. Its gates have these signs.
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Inside the Google logo is EVERYWHERE. On the walls. In the elevators. On all the beverage coolers. So are logos, statues, artwork of other Google products. While at the 'Plex you can never forget you're in Google's world.
Here's the Google logo on recycling garbage cans. (These are in Google Ventures offices that we previously toured.)
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This was one of the few indoor pics we were allowed to take in the Chrome building. Note the Chrome artwork on the walls. This is Caesar Sengupta, VP of Chromebooks with a Pixel notebook.
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Note the Google logo on this "nap pod" where employees can work or sleep.
REUTERS/Erin Siegal
There are multiple fitness centers on campus. We didn't get to see any but here's a picture from a tour Google gave to Reuters a few years ago.
REUTERS/Erin Siegal
Here's one of the massage rooms, one of the legendary perks employees get, a picture also by Reuters.
REUTERS/Erin Siegal
Googlers work in cubbies in open offices. Here's a picture of one available online from Google's PR folks.
Here's one of the micro-kitchens located everywhere. Employees don't have to bring their own lunch, much less cook it. They get breakfast, lunch and dinner for free at various campus restaurants.
As we were leaving the campus, we saw the self-driving car wiz by with two passengers.
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The self-driving car was circling the campus, sharing the road with the many Googlers on bikes.
Business Insider/Julie Bort
Google self-driving car
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