Apple's new London headquarters is part of a $17 billion megadevelopment — take a look inside
A rendering of the revitalized Battersea Power Station in London.Battersea Power Station
Apple is moving its UK headquarters to the Battersea Power Station — London's iconic brick building that Pink Floyd portrayed on the cover of its 1977 album "Animals." The station's redevelopment is part of an estimated $16.5 billion megadevelopment in the city.
The tech giant will relocate its 1,400 UK employees to the building after its $8.8 billion restoration is completed in 2021.
Located in southwest London's Nine Elms neighborhood, the former power station will serve as the center of the larger redevelopment project (dubbed the Battersea Power Station development), which features high-end apartments, hotels, roof gardens, parks, and other offices. It will be one of the most expensive developments in in the city's history.
A Malaysian consortium and architecture firm WilkinsonEyre will lead the power station's development, which includes converting the building into offices, shops, event space, theater, and luxury condos.
Here's what it will look like.
Located in southwest London, the Battersea Power Station borders the Thames River.
Apple will move into the station's former boiler rooms, which were decommissioned in 1983, WilkinsonEyre's director, Sebastien Ricard, tells Business Insider.
As the only company signed on so far, Apple will take up 40% of the power station's available office space.
The 500,000 square-foot space, spread over six floors, will have exposed brick and an industrial aesthetic."It follows the trend toward making authentic-looking workspaces rather than sterilized, 1980s-style spaces," Ricard says.
Apple's entrance will have a large concrete atrium. Three glass elevators will take employees where they need to go.
For a view of the entire city, they will also be able to ride a glass elevator inside one of the station's chimneys up to a viewing deck.
In addition to offices, the building will house shops, a theater that seats 2,000 people, and event spaces.
It will also feature 197 luxury apartments, 34 two-story villas, and two penthouses. The apartments will cost up to $30 million. Ricard says the station's redesign process "was a lot like designing a mini city."
Source: The Guardian
As the largest brick building in London, the power station is part of the city's fabric, he adds. The building appeared in "The Dark Knight" and "The King's Speech."
Nine Elm's larger development project, which centers around the power station, will happen in nine phases.
The first phase consists of apartments and a five-star hotel — in two separate buildings— that are set to open by 2018. The power station restoration is the second phase.
Some Londoners have criticized the Nine Elms project as being aimed more toward wealthy foreign buyers than locals. Much of the $15 billion investment has poured in from foreign developers, according to The Guardian.
Source: The Guardian
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