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Heatherwick's London bridge falls, but his London collaboration with BIG gets approval

Bridge Too Far

Heatherwick's London bridge falls, but his London collaboration with BIG gets approval

This week, designer Thomas Heatherwick saw his studio’s Garden Bridge project for London officially scrapped as the trust backing it closed down. However, in a turn of fortune, Heatherwick Studio, which is working alongside the London office of Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) has been given the green light for a design for Google’s headquarters at King’s Cross.

After a highly controversial process, the Garden Bridge, which was initially backed by former London Mayor Boris Johnson, never came to fruition after incumbent Mayor Sadiq Kahn withdrew tax payer–backed financial support for it. Prior to this stage, some $48 million had been plowed into the project which was touted to cost more than $260 million.

“Sadly, we’re winding up. Without backing from [the Mayor of London] we cannot make the dream of the Garden Bridge a reality,” tweeted the Garden Bridge Trust earlier this week. Others, notably the ardent opposition Twitter handle “Folly for London,” weren’t quite so dismayed.

Bad news, it seems, had a habit of following Heatherwick around. In January, Khan canceled orders on the double-decker London bus he designed due to costs. In March, his Pier 55 project—a 2.75-acre garden over New York’s Hudson River— was stopped by a federal court ruling, though it received a reprieve in June.

More solidly good news, though, came from the London borough of Camden where Heatherwick Studio and BIG’s Google headquarters scheme was approved this week. The 869,900-square-foot building occupies a slender site by Kings Cross railway station, following the tracks down toward a canal. Hosting more than 5,000 employees—and capable of housing up to 7,000—Google’s $780 million new headquarters neighbors the David Chipperfield–designed One Pancras Square which boasts Aldo Rossi overtones with its moulded cast iron columns. The clunky classicalism of that building is not emulated by BIG and Heatherwick’s work, and in further contrast, the Google headquarter’s design emphasizes its horizontality through timber mullions which double-up as louvres.

The ground level will house retail and the eleventh floor will support a heavily-vegetated green roof. An 82-foot swimming pool and 660-foot running track will also feature within the scheme.

Speaking to Richard Waite of the Architects’ Journal (AJ), Heatherwick—whose studio is based out of Kings Cross—said, “Strong support for an ambitious building in an important part of the city is more proof that London is not afraid of its future. We’re excited to start building.”

Bjarke Ingels, meanwhile added: “The unanimous planning approval of our first project in the U.K. is obviously great for us and our London office—but more importantly Kings Cross will get a very lively new neighbor and the U.K. Googlers will finally be united.”

Across the pond, Heatherwick and Ingels are also collaborating on another Google project, the tech giant’s Charleston East campus, in Mountain View, California. (It should be noted that Google’s main headquarters will remain in Mountain View; the Heatherwick and BIG collaboration is just a London headquarters.)

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