A Glimpse At Google's New King's Cross HQ

Dean Nicholas
By Dean Nicholas Last edited 129 months ago
A Glimpse At Google's New King's Cross HQ
The Google campus and the canal.... and what appears to be a right-hand drive Boris bus
The Google campus and the canal.... and what appears to be a right-hand drive Boris bus
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Interior of the building, with man on scooter. Those crazy Californians!
Interior of the building, with man on scooter. Those crazy Californians!
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Google has submitted a planning application to Camden council for their proposed new headquarters at King's Cross; above are some impressions of what it might look like.

Predictably, it's vast, stretching over 1,100ft in length and rising up to 11 storeys high across a 2.4 acre site. Of the 750,000 sq foot of space, around 50,000 will be used for retail at ground level. According to the Independent it's the first time the company has purpose-built an office from scratch: given their propensity for beanbags, scooters and other wacky gimmicks, we're disappointed the campus doesn't resemble a theme park as much as a technology workplace.

The buildings are positioned on the huge swath of land north of King's Cross station, which is quickly becoming one of Europe's biggest development projects. When complete it will house all of Google's UK employees, who are currently split between offices in Victoria and Central St Giles, Holborn. The company employs 2,000 in this country but the new office will accommodate 4,500, indicating Google's ambitious growth plans. Construction work will also generate hundreds of jobs in the local area, a fact the company's brass will probably mention next time an MP needles them over their questionable tax practices.

The £650m scheme is by Clerkenwell-based architects AHMM, whose work in London includes Westminster Academy.

Should Camden approve the application, it is expected to be finished in 2017. Estates Gazette has published a video fly-through of the completed campus.

Further images at Building Design (registration required)

Last Updated 28 June 2013