With its volleyball courts, vegetable garden and free organic food, Google spares little expense in providing perks to its engineers. Unsurprisingly, the company has been voted the best place to work by Fortune magazine two years in a row. Richard Waters, the FT’s west coast managing editor, visits the internet search giant’s California headquarters to ask whether this approach is a glimpse of the future workplace or a utopian Californian anomaly. For more on the future of work visit our online special report at www.ft.com/newwork