© Flickr user <a href='http://https://www.flickr.com/photos/mattkieffer/8856379186'>mattkieffer</a>. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0<a href='http://'>undefined</a>© Flickr user mattkieffer. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0. ImageGranary Square in King's Cross Central
Facebook is closing in on a deal to create a new London headquarters, and will be bringing along the design talents of Frank Gehry, according to reports from The Times and Architects’ Journal.
Described as a “growth space” that will allow the company to expand their European presence, the new headquarters would span four buildings in King’s Cross Central – the same part of the city where Google is building its own 11-story “groundscraper” campus designed by BIG and Heatherwick Studios.
Google's new King's Cross campus, designed by BIG and Heatherwick Studios. Image Courtesy of Google
For the design, Facebook is said to be tapping Gehry Partners to fit out two buildings designed by Bennetts Associates and scheduled to complete next year, as well as potentially design a new standalone building on an adjacent plot.
This would not be the first collaboration between Facebook and Gehry, as the Los Angeles-based architect was also hired to complete the company’s central headquarters in Menlo Park, California. If reports are accurate, the King’s Cross campus would surpass that facility’s current size by a significant margin, with 700,000 square feet of total floor space as opposed to the 430,000 square feet found at the Silicon Valley HQ. That campus, however, is also slated for a massive expansion, with plans announced last summer to expand the campus into a new mixed-use neighborhood master planned by OMA.
An aerial view of Bennetts Associates' plans for their King's Cross development. Image © Bennetts Associates
According to the Times, the King’s Cross development is scheduled to be completed between 2020 and 2024.
News via The Times and Architects’ Journal.
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Earlier today, Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg posted an announcement onto his own Facebook page that the company had moved into its brand new, 430,000-square foot Frank Gehry-designed headquarters. In the post, Zuckerberg offers a photo of the building from above, showing off its 9 acre green roof, with a promise of interior images – of what is essentially the building’s giant, single room – “once we’re fully unpacked.”