Inside Verizon's newly renovated New Jersey campus, which features an indoor taco truck, an exclusive hotel, and a mile-long track

Áine Cain

Sep 20, 2018, 02:18 IST

Inside Verizon's newly renovated New Jersey campus, which features an indoor taco truck, an exclusive hotel, and a mile-long track

Take a look inside this Verizon campus.

Verizon has a large, seven-building campus in Basking Ridge, New Jersey.
The space can accommodate a total of 6,000 employees.
Business Insider swung by One Verizon Way and took a tour of its facilities.

Verizon's corporate headquarters may be based in New York City, but the telecom giant has another big presence about 30 miles to the west.

Verizon's recently-renovated operational headquarters are located in Basking Ridge, New Jersey. The office complex, known as One Verizon Way, can accommodate 6,000 employees.

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Verizon moved into the space in 2005. The most recent round of renovations began in 2016 and wrapped up in 2017.

Business Insider visited the space and took a tour with Verizon's Executive Director of Global Real Estate Joe Rossi.

Here's a look inside Verizon's Basking Ridge campus:

Verizon's operational headquarters takes up 138 acres and consists of seven interconnected buildings. The Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge surrounds the campus, which means that employees often spot turtle and bird eggs around the site.

Verizon set up shop in its Basking Ridge compound in 2005. Previously, AT&T and Pfizer occupied the space.

The office complex is known as One Verizon Way, but that's not all there is to the space.

The campus now also features a hotel called The Ridge, which doubles as a learning center for Verizon employees. The Ridge boasts 170 rooms and is exclusive to Verizon employees and their partners — it's not open to the general public.

The hotel features conference space, a library, and a fitness center, as well as a bar and restaurant.

The Basking Ridge campus recently overhauled its lobby, café, and 18 floors of office space. A new parking garage was also constructed.

Employees who drive electric cars can now take advantage of Verizon's electric charging stations.

What's more, the campus exclusively uses electric cars to drive guests back and forth to The Ridge.

Campus didn't just shut down while all that was being done, however. Most of the renovation was completed in 12 months.

During that time, employees temporarily went to work in "swingspaces" around campus, only to transfer to their new workspaces once construction was completed.

During the renovation, Verizon added a total of 4,300 seats to its workspace. Some of its new workspaces are communal. The goal of the redesigned space is to facilitate all kinds of workspaces preferences.

One Verizon Way also features amenities like nursing rooms, a podcast studio, a law library, and on-site dry cleaning and tailor services. In the warmer months, the campus also puts on "Summer Lunch Jams" — shows where employees showcase their musical abilities onstage.

Within One Verizon Way, open floor plans are now the name of the game.

Employees can choose how they want to work, picking between desks and communal sit-stand desks, tables, and focus rooms.

Meanwhile, the office's two executive floors feature offices without doors, in order to evoke a sense of openness and transparency.

At One Verizon Way's cafeteria, breakfast is served from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. and lunch is available from 11 a.m. to noon.

Employees can also hit up the campus Starbucks from 7 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

The site's food options now include a sushi bar, a made-to-order salad station, and a food truck.

The café's indoor taco truck is modeled off of an actual Verizon truck.

Employees can grab a taco to go and then take a seat at a nearby picnic table and catch a flick on the café's drive-in style screen.

One Verizon Way also boasts a formidable fitness center, to help employees work off some of those calories. For athletes who want to get outside, there's a mile-long track around the campus.

The on-site gym features fitness classes, yoga, pilates, and even massage therapy sessions.

Verizon employees can also stay in shape by joining the office's soccer or marathon clubs.

Employees interested in a more eco-friendly way of travelling can also participate in the fitness center's rent-a-bike program.

But, according to Rossi, the numerous amenities available on campus are merely a reflection of its open culture.

"While how we design the workplace and what we put into it is important, it’s not about the place," Rossi said. "It’s about the people and what comes out of it. The best ideas come from people who work together.”

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