Google CEO, Sundar Pichai, confirmed today that Google plans to build a new purpose-built building on its King’s Cross campus—the first wholly owned and designed Google building outside the United States. The ten story, 650,000 sq. ft. building will be an integral part of Google’s rapidly developing community in one of the most exciting parts of London. Images of the new designs have yet to be released.
The building will complement Google’s existing commitment to the 67-acre King’s Cross Estate. Google will eventually occupy three buildings in the area, including the recently occupied 380,000 sq. ft. development at 6 Pancras Square, which has desk space for approximately 2,500 Googlers. Construction on a second building that Google will lease began earlier this year, with Google set to take occupancy in 2018. The new building joins a growing Google campus at King’s Cross—the campus will eventually house 7,000 employees across three offices in more than 1 million square feet.
Bjarke Ingels & Thomas Heatherwick awarded the commission after an original scheme by AHMM architects was put on hold in November 2013. “From the beginning, the project to give Google a new home in King’s Cross has been extraordinary. Rather than impose a universal style on Google’s buildings in the UK and the USA, we have tried to create an interestingness that fits the scale and the community of King’s Cross. The Silicon Valley startup garage meets the London train sheds in a building that couples clarity with eccentricity and anchors innovation with heritage.“ Bjarke Ingels & Thomas Heatherwick
