Longer than Shard is tall, Google’s £1bn London HQ
...and given how little tax they pay, they can certainly afford it!
With a rooftop meadow, a running trail, 25-metre swimming pool and massage rooms, this is Google’s new £1billion London headquarters.
the technology giant hopes to build a ‘landscraper’ longer than the Shard is tall, complete with a games area where staff can play football indoors.
Google is known for its wacky offices, decked out like teenagers’ bedrooms or children’s playgrounds. Now bosses hope to build a new hQ near King’s Cross station worthy of ‘lasting 100 years’.
it will form part of a ‘campus’ for the company’s 7,000 London staff. According to plans submitted to Camden Council, the 870,000 sq ft building will offer a 200m running track dubbed the ‘trim trail’, and will be 330m long. the Shard is 306m high.
however, the showpiece is not even inside the building, but on its roof. the multi-layered garden will host a cafe, mature trees and meadow flowers, and will be home to gooseberries.plan One summeris of thomasthe strawberries,designers heatherwick, behindsage andthe the architect of the cancelled Garden Bridge across the thames.
Google hopes to start construction in 2018. the American technology firm originally drew up plans to build a glass office block on Googlerippedthe sameup co-founderthe plot plansof land. becauseLarry however, Page they wereto come ‘too up boring’, with asking somethingUK chiefs worthy of lasting a century. Sources said yesterday that he had given the new designs his seal of approval. As well as boasting the facilities of a five- star hotel, the 11-storey office is designed to be environmentally friendly. Solar panels on the roof help to power the building. there is space to park 686 bikes – but just four cars. Joe Borrett, Google’s European property chief, said yesterday: ‘Our offices and facilities play a key part in shaping the Google culture, which is one of the rea- sons we are known for being among the best places to work in the industry.’
Last year, it emerged that Google had paid hMRC only £130million for ten years of back taxes, despite its estimated annual sales of £5.3billion. Google routes most of its non-US revenue through its Dublin office.