Flowers, fitness at new HQ

LONGER than the EU’s highest building is tall, Google’s planned new UK headquarters aims to keep the staff fit.

Proposals for the building, submitted by Google UK and its developers to a London council this week, include a 200m “Trim Trail” on the roof, a three-lane swimming pool, massage rooms, exercise studios and a games area for basketball, five-a-side soccer or badminton.

Less energetic workers can watch the sports from a diagonal staircase that will double as a seating area and cut through the building’s 11 storeys before emerging onto a roof garden.

Alphabet’s Google employs around 4 000 people in the UK.

The 93 000m² building will form a campus alongside the company’s existing offices in the King’s Cross district.

The roof of the 330mlong building will be covered in garden, which, apart from the track and relaxation areas, will be partly covered in wild flowers.

Construction is expected to begin next year. — Bloomberg