New images show plans for Google’s massive, futuristic London campus

1 Jun 2017

Sketch of Google’s future King’s Cross campus in London, set for construction in 2018. Image: Heatherwick Studio

Google has big plans for its base in London, having revealed sketches of a new futuristic campus to be built in King’s Cross.

While Google’s international headquarters are located in Dublin’s Silicon Docks, its presence in nearby London remains dominant, and is now set for a major expansion.

The search-engine giant has submitted plans for a new 1m sq ft campus situated in King’s Cross. Designed by Bjarke Ingels Group and Heatherwick Studio, the base will be the largest Google-owned building outside of the US.

Of that office space, Google is set to take 650,000 sq ft and, unlike many other buildings in London, the site will look more like a ‘landscraper’ with a height of just 11 storeys.

When fully operational, the building – which is to be designed with an emphasis on nature, similar to Apple’s site currently under construction in California – will be added to Google’s existing campus in Pancras Square as well as another future building.

When all of these projects are completed, Google will have enough office space in the UK capital to house as many as 7,000 employees.

So far, the plans for the building have been submitted to the local council, with expectations to begin construction sometime next year.

Interconnected with infrastructure

“The area is a fascinating collision of diverse building types and spaces, and I can’t help but love this mix of massive railway stations, roads, canals and other infrastructure, all layered up into the most connected point in London,” said Thomas Heatherwick, founder of Heatherwick Studio.

Google’s director of real estate and construction, Joe Borrett, added: “We are excited to be able to bring our London Googlers together in one campus, with a new purpose-built building that we’ve developed from the ground up.

“Our offices and facilities play a key part in shaping the Google culture, which is one of the reasons we are known for being amongst the best places to work in the industry.”

Here are some of the sketches of how it will look when up and running.