Much known, much loved tech giant Apple has its European headquarters based out of Cork, in Ireland. Now, however, it is all set to open a new HQ in London.
This shiny new HQ will be located at London’s Battersea Power Station, where the company will be moving 1,400 of its employees – from its eight different offices spread out across the UK’s capital – into the new premises in 2021.
The Battersea Power Station is a Grade II listed property, which has undergone a marvelous restoration as part of £9 billion development project. Apple, swooping in with its plans, will occupy all six floors of this grand, promisingly restored facade. Talking to the Standard, Apple said,
This is a great opportunity to have our entire team working and collaborating in one location while supporting the renovation of a neighbourhood rich with history.
While the California-based company has opted to maintain its European HQ where it is in Cork (which boasts of 6000 employees), its new London headquarters will be the largest in the world outside of the US.
The decision has been greatly received by the UK government as a vote of confidence in London post the political and economic fallout of Brexit. Apple will take up some 500,000 square feet spread over six floors — approximately 40 percent of the available offices. Supposedly, this is the largest letting of office deal in the area in twenty years.
The top six floors inside the former boiler house around a huge central atrium will be occupied by Apple. There will also be three floors of shops, 253 apartments around a “garden square in the sky”, a 2,000-seater auditorium and cinemas in a scheme designed by London architects Wilkinson Eyre.
Apple therefore has its eyes on the prize, and is gearing up to hit two birds with one stone by not only expanding to UK’s capital city and mobilizing its staff, but also by supporting the local culture and its grassroots rehabilitation.
