Google is scheduled to kick off construction for its new and upcoming headquarters in London next year after the Mountain View, California-based company secured a permit from the Camden Council. According to a new report from Bloomberg, the planned campus will be large enough to house at least 5,000 employees of the search giant. The new headquarters will be built in the 6 Pancras Square near Google’s offices in the King’s Cross district, though the search giant did not say when exactly the building will be completed.
In June of this year, Google submitted its development plan for the London campus to Camden Council, disclosing more details about the £1 billion construction project. According to the planning application, the 93,000-square-meter London headquarters will feature a swimming pool, running track, and a garden on the rooftop, with Bjarke Ingels Group and Heatherwick Studios serving as the designer and builder of the campus. Google initially tapped British architecture firm Alford Hall Monaghan Morris to build the campus, though CEO Larry Page later changed his mind and reassigned the project to Heatherwick and company. The developers will install solar panels on the roof to produce 20MWh of combined output every year. Google calls the upcoming building Zone A, which is expected to reach up to eleven stories in height. Other amenities that will be built in the campus include ground level shops, events center, a gym and sports court, and four cafes for employees. A notable part of the plan is the addition of a diagonal staircase into the building meant to connect all areas of the headquarters. While the parking space outside the building will be limited to four cars, the area can accommodate about 686 bicycles. An update on Google’s upcoming London headquarters should follow next year.
Meanwhile, Google is also planning to build a new campus in Mountain View, east of the Googleplex facility. The planned campus is expected to include a tent-like canopy-based architecture, which will be open to the public. The construction is expected to span two and a half years, with the building incorporating restaurants, shaded seating, and the green loop concept borrowed from the Googleplex design.