Instant Alert: Inside Building 87, Microsoft's hidden mad science laboratory

MANAGE SUBSCRIPTIONS   |   UNSUBSCRIBE   |   VIEW ONLINE   Inside Building 87, Microsoft's hidden mad science laboratory by Matt Weinberger on Aug 24, 2016, 8:51 AM Advertisement There's nothing easy about designing great hardware. "You have to build a lot of different devices for a lot of different people for reasons of comfort and productivity," Microsoft Corporate VP of Devices Panos Panay tells Business Insider. This is a new area of expertise for Microsoft. Back when the original Surface tablet was being designed around 2010, the hardware team was just "12 people in a room," says Microsoft head of Industrial Design Ralf Groene. Then, they grew to a floor. Then, two floors. Now, Microsoft has Building 87, a massive complex of laboratories, factory equipment, machine shops, and even the quietest room in the world. In those labs, Microsoft devices like the Surface Book laptop and the Xbox One S got designed, prototyped, and finalized. I got to go inside the Microsoft Device Labs on a recent visit to the main Microsoft campus. Here's a look: SEE ALSO: How Microsoft built a computer so good, even Apple wanted to copy it From the outside, Building 87 looks just like any other nondescript office on Microsoft's massive Redmond campus. But on the inside, it houses the company's most advanced hardware labs. "We have 150 bad ideas every day, and one good one," says Microsoft head of Industrial Design Ralf Groene. It's important that in the Microsoft Devices lab, they're "allowed to fail," he says. Here, Groene is posing with the prototype NFL-branded Type Covers for the Surface Pro 4. This is before the lacquer and electronics go into them to turn them from real, actual fabric into thin, functional keyboards. Here's a good example. See, the Surface Book's screen detaches to become a standalone tablet. Neat! Everybody loved the idea, including Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, says Groene. See the rest of the story at Business Insider   Share the latest business news with your network: Email sent to:   |   Manage your email preferences   |   Unsubscribe Terms of Service   |   Privacy Policy Business Insider. 150 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10011