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.
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.
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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