A wooden reception desk welcomes visitors to the F5 Tower. Director of Global Real Estate and Operations, Jay Phillips, said the display changes depending on who is visiting.

In any area of any floor in F5 Networks’ new headquarters, employees and visitors can see outside.

The view was a crucial design element for the Seattle technology company, which in April began moving from its Elliott Bay campus into the 44-story tower it staked its claim on two years ago, Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer Ana White said Wednesday.

F5 occupies 515,000 square feet across the top 28 floors of the tower at 801 Fifth Ave. The lower portion is a hotel space not yet occupied. The office and hotel have different lobbies and parking facilities, F5 Director of Global Real Estate Jay Phillips said.

As Expedia Group moves into F5’s former neighborhood and tech companies trend toward campus-like office spaces, F5 moved into the downtown tower to give employees more access to transit and amenities. A 33rd-floor cafe is the only food vendor in the tower, and the company urges employees to get out onto Seattle’s streets to buy lunch outside the office. Phillips said that’s uncommon among tech employers, which tend to offer a variety of food options to their employees, keeping them on-site. Like clockwork, at about 11:45 a.m. Wednesday employees began to stream out onto Fifth Avenue.

F5 has more than 5,000 employees worldwide, including 1,500 at its Seattle headquarters. Employees began a phased move into the tower in April and were all situated by August, White said. The tower can fit up to 1,900 employees, and maybe more as employees ask for more flexible and open workspaces, Phillips said.

Only vice presidents and above have private offices, while the rest of the teams have workstations and access to casual workspaces, focus rooms, phone rooms and conference rooms of various sizes and styles. Every conference room has unique light fixtures, which Phillips said he was adamant about during design.

NBBJ was the architect on the office renovation project while ZGF designed the original building. CBRE manages the property from an on-site office.