Apple is looking to expand its operations in Europe, and has found a new location for a European headquarters. Where? The Battersea Power Station, of course!
The Battersea is a somewhat iconic landmark found in the southwest of London, and it has been pretty much abandoned since it was closed in 1983. Now, however, the landmark is undergoing a massive renovation, which will see it getting a mixture of restaurants, offices, and stores. Apple has agreed to take a hefty six floors of the building, which will be enough for around 1,400 employees, with room for more if Apple hires more down the road.
Apple is planning on moving into the new offices by 2021, and will move some of its “central function” staff, many of which currently work in offices at Hanover Street. By 2021, it’s planned that the bulk of the renovation process will be complete, and while the amount of money Apple is paying for the offices is a secret, the deal has been described as one of the largest office letting deals in London’s West End for the past 20 years.
This won’t be Apple’s first rental in London. The company currently leases multiple London offices, but according to the Evening Standard, which broke the news, the new site will see Apple consolidating eight of its sites into a single campus. Still, while the new site will be big for Apple, it won’t be anywhere near as huge as Apple’s campus in Cork, Ireland — or, for that matter, its new Cupertino campus, which is being built to house a massive 13,000 employees within 2.8 million square feet.
On top of the offices and stores, the building will also house 581 affordable housing units, which were promised as part of the renovation, although it was announced last year that those units would be moved away from the main Battersea site.
Now, a new developer video on Business Insider gives you a sneak peek at the stunning $17 billion development, and while the new footage doesn’t exactly reveal much new information, it’s nice to be able to have a visual representation of the project. You can also see a small gallery of photos here.
Originally published on 09-28-2016. Updated on 10-17-2016 by Lulu Chang: Added news of developer video and sneak peek image gallery.
