Last month, London mayor Sadiq Khan, joined by a trio of Google executives, broke ground on the site of Google’s new campus in the city’s King’s Cross district. Referring to Google’s hefty investment in the city as Brexit looms, Khan called the new project, which will create the office space for up to 7,000 employees, “another clear sign that London is open and remains entrepreneurial.”
The building may prove to symbolize much more than that, however.
The property has been dubbed a “landscraper,” a building as long and as horizontal as skyscrapers are tall and vertical, and it could represent a shift in the very shape of the places where people work.
Google’s London flagship will be 1,082 feet long, which is 66 feet longer than The Shard, London’s tallest building, is high. The new building is comparable to the iconic Empire State building (1,250 feet) in New York.
The “landscraper,” designed by Heatherwick Studio and Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG), will likely boost street life outside Google’s headquarters.