Is this London's coolest office?

Google this week unveiled its new engineering office, hidden inside one of the capital's most traditional buildings in Victoria.

Every wall doubles as a whiteboard - staff are encouraged to write anywhere they want - and meeting-room tables have been dumped in favour of sofas.

Elsewhere in London, ball pits more commonly found in playgrounds, beanbags and pool tables have become commonplace as offices start to resemble living rooms.

But Google has taken it one step further, actually letting its staff design their own office.

The project was led by Henrique Penha, whose day job is a lead designer for Android, Google's mobile phone and tablet software.

"I joined the team a year ago, and we began talking about redoing the floor. I started thinking we could do a much better job for the engineers, and one thing leads to another - and now we have a new floor."

Penha spent three months coming up with the ideas before briefing architects at Penson Group to complete the building.

"It's about function, making it better for the engineers day to day, and how we go about creating, inventing and building - we wanted to give it a 'Googley' feel," he says.

"Making it feel like it's not an office was part of the brief. The meeting rooms have sofas, making them more laid- back. Forcing people to sit differently can help them to think differently."

The centrepiece of the office is the park, which even has deckchairs. "A lot of people ask why we have a park - but why not?" says Penha. "It's about relaxation and making people feel comfortable. It's great to see people sitting with a coffee in the rowing boats in the afternoons."

There's also a games room and a music room, which has been used by staff to record their own songs.

"It's early days but so far the first weeks in the space has been amazing. People have been really positive, people are puzzled by it, so it's both provocative and pleasing - with a bit of jealousy from people on other floors."

Even the coffee bar in the park was given a makeover. Google has created four special house blends of coffee. Staff have been trained on the latest coffee machines installed next to the park. "We're very specific about our coffee," said Penha.

David Singleton, Google UK engineering director, says: "Google has always believed that inspiring environments create inspired ideas. Our engineers come up with these brilliant ideas, so we figured they'd want to design their perfect office space."

Make your office 'Googley'

Dump the meeting-room table
Meetings will be much more creative.

Let people personalise their workspace
Pictures, toys and other personal items make staff more relaxed.

Food and drink
Google has restaurants, mini kitchens and coffee bars, all free for staff.

Make seating comfortable
Deckchairs and sofas can loosen people up.

Build a games room
Staff need to unwind during the day.