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Google's 'innovative' new London HQ features giant moving blinds
They've been a long time coming, but Google has finally laid out its plans for its new "innovative" £1 billion London headquarters located in Kings Cross. This week, the company submitted a detailed planning application to Camden Council, outlining its desire to build an slightly sloped 11-storey building that will sit on a "plinth" of shops and offices, and feature a three-lane 25 metre pool, multi-use games area (hosting basketball, five-a-side football or badminton), a gym and a huge landscaped roof garden.
Google unveils new plans for its London HQ
When Google spent upwards of $1.6 billion securing prime land near King's Cross station, it immediately set out plans for a new London HQ. They included a rooftop running track, swimming pool and interior cycling ramps, but it didn't take long for the project to be canned, with the search giant saying it wanted to "challenge ourselves to do something even better." Fast forward three years and Google CEO Sundar Pichai is town to recommit to its London campus, unveiling new ideas for its first "wholly designed" building outside of the US in the process.
Google scraps London HQ design in favor of something 'even better'
Just when it looked like Google was ready to break ground on its new UK headquarters in London, the company has decided it wants to start all over again. According to Building Design, Google has told the building's architects to go back to the drawing board and called for a new design to be drawn up within its original floor plan. Previous council-approved designs for the £650 million Kings Cross HQ incorporated a roof-top running track, swimming pool and connected cycling ramps, but the development apparently wasn't ambitious enough. Google says it has a "great plan for the building" but wants "to challenge ourselves to do something even better" -- perhaps borrowing inspiration from its mysterious floating barges.
Virgin Media activates more tube WiFi hotspots, minds the gaps in its coverage
Virgin Media has flicked the switch and coated Kings Cross and Warren Street tube stations in gloriously free WiFi. The pair will be joined tomorrow by Oxford Circus and Green Park, while Victoria and Euston will do the same on the 9th. In order to use the service, which is free during the Olympics, users need to hop onto the network and register their email address. Once the summer is over, Virgin Media customers will get preferential treatment on the network, with everyone else buying pay-as-you-go minutes so they can tweet about how long we're stuck at Edgware Road... again.
Venture capital and online games @ Virtual Worlds Forum
Last week we managed to catch the Venture Capital panel at the Virtual Worlds Forum, an event set inside a nightclub situated within a rather eerie warehouse district behind Kings Cross train station. Plenty of black leather sofas with bloggers and attendees basked in purple lights, a glitter ball, and three bars provide an odd backdrop for discussions about monetizing the latest WoW wannabe. The overall atmosphere of this panel was very businesslike -- £995 a head means most attendees were on their respective company's ticket -- so if you want to continue believing that video games are solely a creative medium designed to further society through creation of fun, look away now.If you're interested in this subject, make sure to check out ex-Joystiq editor Vlad Cole's newly relaunched blog on video game venture capital. Now keep reading.
