Google London HQ vs Apple Park: Battle of the world's best offices

How Google's new London headquarters compares to Apple Park, opening in California this summer.

Google has revealed plans for its new London headquarters, the first HQ to be built and owned by the search giant outside of its native California.

The massive building will be constructed in Kings Cross, close to St Pancras International train station and Regent's Canal. Eleven stories high and stretched across more than 300 meters, the building is as long as the Shard, Western Europe's tallest building, is high.

The story of a technology behemoth creating a huge glass and steel structure to house thousands of employees will be familiar to many, as Apple adds the finishing touches to its own shiny new loop-shaped HQ, called Apple Park.

Google London HQ vs Apple Park — Google London HQ (top) and Apple Park (below) Google/Apple

Here's how the two super-offices stack up:

	Google London HQ	Apple Park
Designer	Bjarke Ingels Group and Heatherwick Studios (2012 Olympic Cauldron, London Routemaster bus)	Foster + Partners (Wembley Stadium, Canary Wharf Underground station, McLaren Technology Centre)
Floor space	870,000 square feet	2,800,000 square feet
Cost	£1bn (estimate)	£3.8bn
Size	330m long, seven floors rising to 11	Circular, one mile circumference, four floors
Staff count	7,000	12,000
Garden	300m long landscaped roof terrace	30-acre park with 9,000 trees
Auditorium	210 seats	1,000 seats
Fitness centre	25m swimming pool, sports hall for basketball and football, 200m 'trim trail' running route through gardens, massage rooms	100,000 square feet, two-storey yoga room, medical and dental services
Silicon Valley features	'Pause areas', sleeping pods for naps and office all-nighters	400-ton glass cafe doors, 100% self sufficient, Jony Ive-designed door handles made from MacBook aluminium
Status	Designs drawn, construction to start in 2018	Building almost complete, employees to move in during summer 2017