Google to start long-awaited move into Platform 37 London HQ this summer
The tech giant was originally due to move into the site in 2024, having first started construction in 2018.
Google is set to move into its £1 billion European headquarters in London’s King’s Cross from this summer after a series of delays and setbacks, as it revealed the site will be called Platform 37.
The US technology giant said Google and DeepMind artificial intelligence (AI) experts will begin to relocate to the so-called landscraper building over the summer, having officially started construction in 2018.
It was originally due to move into the site in 2024, but this has been held back amid issues and reports of contractor problems.
The site is called a “landscraper” as it is longer than the Shard is tall, stretching to 330 metres in length, while it is 72 metres high, reaching 11 storeys at its highest point.
Google said the name Platform 37 is a reference to its positioning near King’s Cross station, as well as a breakthrough moment in AI research called Move 37 – a move in a game of Go played by DeepMind’s AI system AlphaGo against the world’s top Go player, Lee Sae Dol.
The firm also revealed plans to open The AI Exchange on the ground floor of the new building, which it said will be a public space dedicated to “deepening the understanding of AI where visitors will be able to engage with a broad range of free, AI-related educational programming, interactive exhibitions and cultural events”.
Sir Demis Hassabis, Google DeepMind co-founder and chief executive, said in a blog that the site was the firm’s “most ambitious and innovative building to date”.
He said: “We’re excited to begin moving our teams into this inspiring and collaborative space.
“I see this spectacular building as more than an office — it is a monument to science and intelligence.
“Our multi-disciplinary teams will work together here to achieve the next world-changing breakthroughs like AlphaGo, pioneering the path towards artificial general intelligence to build a better future for the benefit of everyone.”
On The AI Exchange plans, he added: “Visitors will be able to engage with a broad range of AI topics through free educational programming, interactive exhibitions and cultural events.”
Designed by Thomas Heatherwick and Bjarke Ingels, the building has a “hung” structure with hanging floors that are not fixed to the side of the building, to increase the sense of light and space.
The building also boasts a rooftop garden, which has seen Google tie up with the London Wildlife Trust and the borough of Camden to ensure it is densely planted and serves as a habitat to help boost local biodiversity.
