Microsoft Digital Waterfall and Lake

An eyecatcher of a different kind welcomes colleagues and visitors at the new Microsoft Campus in Ireland.
A digital lake with a digital waterfall gives the spacious atrium a futuristic touch. The ASB GlassFloor was adjusted in order to meet the particular requirements. The result: an impressive visual experience that can also be used for customer events and presentations.

Microsofts’ new 34.000 square meter Campus lies in Leopardstown. Different teams work from the Dublin suburb, and also the technology moguls’ first datacentre outside the United States has its seat there. The modern building, which is shaped like a star, welcomes more than 2.000 colleagues and visitors with this digital lake and digital waterfall. The high-tech company assigned ASB GlassFloor with the realisation.
ASB GlassFloor designed a special construction for this flooring with a pixel pitch of 25 mm, which not only ensures a homogeneous surface, but matches the architecture of the building and gives it a futuristic touch at the same time. The entire flooring surface of 80 square meters was equipped with LED video elements and covered with patented glass that reduces reflection to a minimum. ASB GlassFloor collaborated with the responsible architects from RKD Architects and the lighting experts from ARUP in order to achieve the homogeneous interior of the building.

For the waterfall, ASB provided a real cutting-edge service: a special laser technique ensures that the glass hardly reflects and that the glass surface can be used as a transparent balustrade with a height of 440 centimeters. This is the first solution of this kind worldwide.
The finished installation gives the impression of water flowing down, while the floor appears like a water surface. Both elements can be controlled individually per Plug&Play via HDMI interface – with a single video file, which makes operation extremely easy. This way a unique effect on anyone who enters the building is achieved – and Microsoft has numerous new possible uses of the atrium. For instance, floor and waterfall can welcome visitors individually, which makes it more personal, or they can be used to transform the spacious atrium into a monumental presentation surface.

Gensler and RKD Architects

Gensler and RKD Architects

Isophon Glas, Invent Design

Microsoft