Do you ever sit at your office desk and wish you were at a relaxing day spa? Well the staff at Google’s Budapest office get to live this dream daily… well… almost.

Google’s new office in the Hungarian capital Budapest mimics a spa, with an abundance of plants, tiled pillars, cushioned areas for relaxing, floors which looks like rippling water and even a boardroom with all-wood walls and slatted floors.

Budapest has called itself the “City of Spas” since 1934, but its inhabitants have been enjoying the 70 million litres of warm water pouring out of hundreds of holes in the ground since the time of the Romans.

Website contemporist.com notes that the design company involved in the refurbishment, Graphasel Design Studio, incorporated features from Budapest’s two most important baths, the Széchenyi and Gellért, as well as references from the world of water polo.

Hungary has won nine Olympic gold medals and three gold medals in water polo world championships and, unlikely as it may seem, “water polo has become part of the Hungarian bath culture over the years”, according to Graphasel.

History doesn’t relate whether Google Hungary employees ever get any work done, or what it’s like sitting in an environment that appears to ripple, after a glass too many of the country’s famous fruit brandy Pálinka.

On the other hand, the designers do note that:

“It was important to allow for continuous complementation and improvement by the employees of the office. Therefore, the appearance of colourful towels or beach balls in the office is just as mundane as logging on to a video conference in a swimming hat.”

The mind boggles.

Photos sourced with grateful thanks from contemporist.com