Rethinking the ‘Office’ with Miro at EDGE Stadium

Moving beyond return-to-office mandates, toward spaces people want to come back to.

Miro, an AI-powered workspace platform for teams founded in 2011, is now one of the fastest-growing tech companies helping distributed teams work together across locations. In Amsterdam, the company’s European headquarters spans the second, third, and fourth floors of EDGE Stadium, a building known for its sustainability and focus on wellbeing.

Conversations about returning to the office often start with the wrong question: When are people coming back? Daaf Serné, Head of Workplace and Sustainability at Miro, suggests a different one: What kind of office do people want to come back to?

That question has guided Miro’s workplace strategy since Daaf joined in January 2022. The challenge was immediate: the company had grown from 200 to 1,700 employees during the pandemic and operated entirely virtually.

It was a complex, multi-stakeholder challenge, he recalls, a high-impact and ambiguous problem space.

He kept returning to two simple questions: how do you create an in-person experience that doesn’t repeat the mistakes of traditional office environments, and can you design a workspace people genuinely choose to use, rather than feel obliged to?

Built on Collaboration

Miro turned its first post-pandemic office on Stadhouderskade into a “living lab,” later called the “learning lab”. A place where the team could test ideas, learn from real behaviour, and adjust the space as needed. It wasn’t about perfecting an office overnight, but about understanding how people actually work when given the room to experiment.

Over time, this approach became a strategy. Employees were involved early and consistently, not as a formality but as partners. During the design process of their Amsterdam HQ, the team introduced an ambassador program, shared work in progress, and invited people to shape the direction of the next phase: a long-term home that reflected who Miro had become.

The level of involvement was unusual. Miro consulted 19 teams, 7 divisions, and 10 Employee Resource Groups. More than 60% of Amsterdam-based employees participated in workshops, interviews, and focus groups. Their input influenced everything from the choice of location to the types of rooms people needed for their day-to-day work.

As Daaf puts it: Our people are innovative, creative, and adaptable. The office had to be a mirror of those traits, one that encourages people to bring their own way of thinking while still feeling part of something shared.

From Vision to Reality

That vision took form at EDGE Stadium, located in Amsterdam’s “new tech alley,” between the creative startup heart of the city and the more corporate South Axis. For Miro, the location struck the right balance, mature but still playful.

Sustainability was a key factor. The design emphasizes circularity, with reupholstered reclaimed chairs and curtains made of recycled materials.

You can spend the same amount of money on a space that is wasteful or one that tells a story, Daaf said. We wanted a story that lasts.

The layout prioritizes visibility and connection. Employees can see each other across the space, encouraging natural interaction. The entrance features a “cozy café” with Miro’s bright yellow accents and a large screen looping a digital AI artwork that visualizes Miro’s global platform activity throughout the day. The shapes used in the A.I. artwork has a strong resemblance to the Spanish artist, Joan Miro's shapes which can be found in his paintings, but converted in 3D models. As users log on from different regions, the shapes and colours shift in real time, representing collaboration on a global scale.

A full restaurant replaces traditional catering, offering high food standards and communal lunches that bring colleagues together.

Those are real connection points, Daaf said. Either your breakfast in the café or your lunch at the bistro, those are moments in the day where people get the opportunity to connect.

Wellbeing and Work

Beyond design, Miro’s office was built around wellbeing and productivity. Through repeated work-style studies, the team identified seven different workspace setups and neighborhood-based seating arrangements.

When we asked, Does the space support the work that you do?, we got a 4.6 out of 5, Daaf said. That tells us we have been able to cater for that specific need to boost productivity in the office.

Since 2022, Miro’s workplace satisfaction scores have improved by 35% across all locations. Amsterdam alone rose from 3.5 to 4.4 out of 5.

Daaf also emphasizes embracing off‑peak days, quieter moments in the week with lighter attendance. Instead of resisting them, Miro adapts by scaling services such as food and energy based on occupancy.

You accept that these days are going to be quieter with less buzz, he said, and you tune your services accordingly.

Flexibility as the Foundation

If one word captures Miro’s workplace culture today, it is energy. The office is designed to feel alive, flexible, and human. Data shows that Mironeer teams that have three or more direct collaborators spend twice as much time in the office compared to smaller teams, suggesting that people come in because collaboration is easier, not because they are required to.

In many conversations about returning to the office, the focus tends to be on attendance. Miro’s approach offers a quiet alternative. The future of work is not about when people come back, but understanding what brings them in and giving them the functionalities that they need to be successful. For some, that means dedicated rooms for focused time; for others, it means spaces where hybrid meetings feel natural and equitable for colleagues across Miro’s 13 additional global hubs. Flexibility both physical and digital, makes that possible.

Miro’s Amsterdam HQ at EDGE Stadium illustrates what is possible when a workplace is co-designed with its community. The space holds a balance between function, wellbeing, and the freedom to adapt over time. It doesn’t try to be everything at once; instead, it supports the way people genuinely work. In doing so, it offers a convincing example of what a modern workplace is.

At Edge, we are proud to see the philosophy used to shape the space by Miro. Their vibrant fit-out builds upon the strong, sustainable core and shell that define all Edge buildings. It’s a partnership that goes beyond walls, when tenants invest their creativity and energy into crafting spaces that reflect their culture.

*Copyrights to the photos used belong to ZENBER Architecten