tech2 News Staff

Back in June 2013, Google revealed plans for its new headquarters which is due to be situated in London. The new headquarters which is set to begin construction at the King's Cross Central development is expected to overtake the Shard skyscraper as the 'longest' property in the United Kingdom.

The Shard, according to a report by the Business Insider, measures 1,016 feet tall which is set to be eclipsed by Google's London headquarters which might not be as tall, but measures 1,100 feet when flipped on its side. According to the report, the building's architects, Bjarke Ingels Group and Heatherwick Studios refer to the building as a "landscraper", owing to its horizontal stretch instead of stretching vertically like most skyscrapers.

Futurist Amy Webb who has authored a book on why today's fringe is tomorrow's mainstream, states that though Google landscraper could be the first of its kind in the world, 'landscrapers' could become more and more popular in the US in the next two decades. "Landscrapers will create entirely new city footprints that we just haven't seen yet in the US, and could make life easier and more realistic," says Webb to the publication.

Beginning construction in 2018, Google's landscraper is expected to be eleven-storeys tall while spanning an area of 1 million square feet. The entire structure is expected to house 700 employees once complete.

"Climate change-driven weather events like hurricanes are becoming more frequent and aggressive. In the future, it will become increasingly risky to build high-rises, which can sway several feet in extreme wind," Webb said explaining why she thinks 'landscrapers' will become more common in the coming years.