10亿英镑打造的谷歌伦敦新总部先睹为快

This long and low Leviathan is Google's glossy new London headquarters.
这栋低矮绵长的庞然大物就是光鲜亮丽的谷歌伦敦新总部。
So lengthy it's been dubbed 'the landscraper' by locals.
因为太长了，所以这栋建筑被当地人戏称为"平地机"。
Over one million square feet of floor space it accommodates basketball courts,a theatre,massage parlors,and nap pods shared between some 4,500 staff.
在超过100万平方英尺的建筑面积上，涵盖了篮球场、剧院、按摩院以及供大约4500名员工公用的午睡舱。
So what's up with that unusual design?
那么这项非比寻常的设计究竟怎么样？
How's the neighborhood?
它的周围又有什么值得关注的？
And,um,aren't office blocks a bit 2019?
还有就是，办公区是不是还是2019年的老样子？
Join us now for a grand tour around Google's new UK headquarters.
现在就和我们一起参观一下谷歌在英国的新总部吧。
The north London district of Kings Cross,where Google's new gaff is going, has something of a chequered past.
坐落于伦敦北部英皇十字区的谷歌新址有着一段曲折的历史。
It was first a site of great commercial importance when the newfangled steam railways and London's Regents Canal opened in the 19th century.
早在19世纪新奇的蒸汽铁路和伦敦摄政运河开通时，这片地区就曾是一个具有重要商业意义的片区。
Alas, from about 1980 onwards, Kings Cross sadly descended into vice and squalor as old school industry fled the city.
遗憾的是，从大约1980年起，英皇十字区便令人惋惜地沦为一片堕落污脏的地带，原有的传统工业也在这片地区消失了。
However,since 2000, developers have been gussying up the neighborhood through a monumental multi-decade investment program.
不过，自2000年以来，借由一项长达数十年的重大投资计划，开发商们正在着力改善这个社区。
And it's easy to see why big employers like Google,and its soon-to-be neighbor Facebook,are moving in.
这也就不难理解为什么谷歌和紧随其后的邻居脸书会迁至这样的一个地方。
Kings Cross is incredibly well served for transport links.
英皇十字区的交通十分便利。
You can go anywhere in London by Tube in a matter of minutes.
你可以在几分钟之内乘地铁到达伦敦的任何一个地方。
Next door you can jump on a train to Paris, not to mention the regular fast rail services to Oxford,Cambridge,and Hogwarts.
你也可以在不远的地方乘火车去巴黎，更不用说通往牛津、剑桥和霍格沃茨的特快列车了。
Kings Cross is an attractive prospect for workers too – just ask the local talent.
英皇十字区对工人们来说也是一个极具吸引力的地方——问问当地的大牛们就知道了。
The area is brimming with brains.
这个地方到处都是饱含学识的人。
Google's new home will be within strolling distance of the British Museum, the Francis Crick and the Turing Institutes, prestigious University College London, University College Hospital, the Wellcome Trust,and any number of biotech and AI startups.
位于谷歌新址咫尺之内的则是大英博物馆、弗朗西斯克里克和图灵研究所、著名的伦敦大学学院、大学学院医院、维康信托基金以及许多生物技术和人工智能的初创企业。
Lately,this ultra-commutable egghead enclave has stolen the crown from London's other wannabe tech hub,a grimy junction above Old Street underground cynically nicknamed 'silicon roundabout'.
近日，这个交通便捷的人才聚集地将科技中心的桂冠从伦敦的另一个地区手上抢走了，后者则位于伦敦老街，并被戏称为"硅盘"。
Anyway,enter Google,whose grand new edifice is said to have cost somewhere in the region of a billion pounds.
不管怎么样，我们先进到谷歌里面看一看，据说这栋新大厦耗费了大约10亿英镑。
It's eleven stories high,and stretches 330 meters along the King's Cross railway tracks – that's longer than London's tallest building, the Shard,is high,by the way.
它有11层楼高，沿着英皇十字铁路线延伸了330米，这可比伦敦最高的夏德大厦还要高。
Many Londoners say this development makes a nice change from all those priapic skyscrapers.
很多伦敦人表示说，相比那些早就建成的摩天大楼，这会是一次好的转变。
The new HQ was designed in a collaboration between Copenhagen starchitect Bjarke Ingels and Kings Cross-based Heatherwick Studios.
新总部大楼的设计是由哥本哈根明星建筑师Bjarke Ingels和英皇十字区的赫斯维克工作室合作完成的。
Heatherwick,who as it happens just completed a lavish £100million refit of nearby Coal Drops Yard shopping center,is no stranger to cockney icons.
由于碰巧在近期完成了附近Coal Drops Yard购物中心耗资1亿英镑的装修，赫斯维克对伦敦的标志性建筑并不算陌生。
Heatherwick designed the flaming cauldron centerpiece for London's 2012 Olympic Games, and the city's curvaceous new-look Routemaster buses.
赫斯维克设计了2012年伦敦奥运会火红色的主火炬，也为这座城市创造了拥有曲线美新造型的"路霸"公交车。
Google's UK HQ – which founder Larry Page commissioned after dismissing another top architect's plans as 'boring' – really is a bit special.
谷歌的英国总部确实有点特别，它是在创始人拉里佩奇驳斥了另一位顶级建筑师的"无聊"设计后才委托建造的。
There's a large multi-lane upper-story swimming pool,cutting-edge sports facilities,a gym,four cafes,and a multi-use games area.
总部内配备有一个大型多泳道跃层游泳池、顶级的运动设施、一个健身房、四个咖啡馆和一个多功能游戏区。
There's a 210-seat auditorium for product announcements and lectures.
还有一个包含210个座位的礼堂，用于产品发布和讲座。
The whole structure sits atop a so-called 'plinth' of retail and dining spots intended to,in Heatherwick's words, "create variety and fascination at a human scale".
针对位于零售和餐饮场所这个所谓"基座"上的整个建筑结构，用赫斯维克的话来说，其目的就是"在人类的能力范围内尽可能地创造多样性和吸引力"。
On the rooftop behold a 300-meter landscape garden divided into zones including a 'pause area' for quiet contemplation.
在屋顶上，可以看到一个分为多个区域的300米长的景观花园，其中还包括一个用于静修的"休止区"。
There are shady wooded spots dappled with pastel wildflowers,lily-covered fish ponds,rustic beehives,and a 200 meter running track commanding peerless panoramic views over London.
在这片绿树成荫的地带上，点缀着明艳柔和的野花、百合覆盖的鱼塘、质朴的蜂箱，还有一条200米长的跑道，能俯瞰伦敦无可比拟的全景。
Inside,a dramatic staircase floats diagonally through what Bjarke Ingels describes as 'a single confident volume' akin to Kings Cross station's magnificent multi-arched concourse.
在大楼内部，一个夸张的楼梯斜着穿过了大厅，这被Bjarke Ingels称为是"一个自信的体量"，这有点类似于英皇十字车站那恢弘的多拱门大厅。
All internal routes are easy and flowing and connected in order to inspire opportunities for chance encounters and foster all-important creativity.
建筑内部的所有通道让人群十分容易流通和联系，这也是为了创造那些偶发性的机遇，培养至关重要的创造力。
Fundamentally,of course,it's an office block.
当然，本质上它还是一座办公楼。
So imagine hundreds of people staring at screens and zoning out in meetings.
所以想想看数百人都在眼盯屏幕或在会上发呆。
Hey,at least they get nap pods.
不过至少他们还有午睡舱啊。
The very fabric of the building was chosen in line with Google's so-called 'healthy materials' program.
该建筑的结构设计正与谷歌所谓的"健康材料"项目相符。
This initiative traces its origins back to the early days of Google when a fretful Larry Page would prowl the office with a handheld particle counter measuring air quality and particulates emanating from the walls and floors.
这一倡议的起源可以追溯到谷歌的初创阶段，在那时，焦躁不安地拉里佩奇会手持颗粒计数器在办公室里来回踱步，测量空气质量和从地板与墙壁上散发出来的颗粒。
Presently,Google runs a handful of offices across London.
目前，谷歌在伦敦有多个办事处。
Famously its Victoria outpost has beach huts and dodgem cars,while staff at Google's Covent Garden branch enjoy access to an allotment.
谷歌在维多利亚的分址有着著名的海滩小屋和碰碰车，而在考文特花园司址的员工们则享受着菜地和园地。
This new building,alongside two other nearby Kings Cross sites being looked at by Google,will unify its UK team on one 7,000-person campus.
这栋新建筑与谷歌正在筹划的英皇十字车站附近的另外两座建筑一起，将把谷歌英国团队集中至一个7000人的园区内。
The centerpiece will be this—the only wholly Google-designed-and-built building outside the US. But hang on a minute,you're probably thinking.
其主要目的在于——将其打造成为唯一一个由谷歌在美以外独立设计和建造的建筑。不过别急，你可能还会问下面这个问题。
Don't we all work from home now?
我们现在不都是在家办公了吗？
At the time of writing,almost all of Google's 118,000 global employees are working in their jammies.
截至本文撰写之时，谷歌在全球范围内的11。8万名员工几乎都穿着睡衣工作。
CEO Sundar Pichai has signaled he intends this policy to stand,until the end of June 2021 at any rate.
谷歌首席执行官桑达尔皮查伊表示，他打算将这一政策维持到2021年6月底。
Because while it's clear the nature of work has probably changed forever,Pichai still has faith in the unique alchemy of in-person collaboration.
因为，尽管办公的特质很明显将永久性地改变，皮查伊仍然会将信任投注于面对面合作所展现出的特殊魔力上。
"We firmly believe that being together,having that sense of community is super important for whenever you need to solve hard problems,"he told Time Magazine "
他在接受《时代》杂志采访时表示："我们坚信，当有棘手难题亟待解决的时候，无论是什么样的情况，团结一致的集体意识都是至关重要的。
So we don't think the future is 100% remote.
所以我们并不认为这样的未来有多么遥远。
We value our offices,we value the culture".
我们看重自己的办公室，也看重自己的文化。
Certainly, Kings Cross's lunchtime,restaurant, and bar scene will rejoice when Google's shiny new HQ fills up with well-remunerated young go-getters, potentially as soon as next year.
显而易见的是，当谷歌光鲜亮丽的新总部最快在明年挤满薪酬丰厚又怀有抱负的年轻人时，英皇十字区的午餐时间、餐厅和酒吧将呈现出十分雀跃的场景。
Right now it's still being built – get a load of those Android logos running up its reinforced concrete core.
这栋建筑目前仍处于施工阶段，很多安卓标志也被投放在钢筋混凝土上。
But ultimately,Google's huge investment in London is a tonic for those Londoners who worry that,since the pandemic,their city has lost its mojo.
但话说回来，谷歌在伦敦的巨额投资对于那些自疫情爆发以来就忧心忡忡，担心自己的城市已经失去魅力的伦敦人来说，的确是一剂良药。
Well,if anyone can help them find it...
不过，到底有没有人能帮助他们找到答案。
What do you think?
你对此又怎么看？
Are these vast office hulks nothing but dinosaurs from a bygone corporate era?
这些庞然大物一般的写字楼会否仍旧是过去公司林立时代的另一种写照？
Let us know in the comments,and don't forget to hit subscribe for more hot-desking tech content.
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