Toy giant Lego is to move its London headquarters from Farringdon to new offices on the South Bank overlooking the Thames.
Around 1,500 UK staff at the family owned Danish company will occupy 192,000 sq ft over three and half floors of a Grade II listed riverside building next to the National Theatre.
The new London Hub at 76 Southbank, originally designed by brutalist architect Sir Denys Lasdun, who also built the National Theatre, has been refurbished to bring it up to modern standards of sustainability, including rooftop solar panels.
The concrete building was completed in 1983 as an office and client marketing building for IBM and is regarded as the last great project by the brutalist architect.
It was redeveloped by Wolfe Asset Management to designs by architects AHMM.
Lego said “the move is part of the company’s global strategy to create world-class workplaces in locations with access to top talent in order to meet its future growth ambitions.”
Chief people officer Loren Shuster said: “We’re excited about moving to South Bank. It’s the cultural heart of London which makes it the perfect location for a company dedicated to inspiring creativity.”
He described 76 Southbank as “an iconic building, and its mix of large floors and outdoor spaces will help strengthen our culture of collaboration, innovation and play.
He added: “We have built a fantastic team in London across all areas of our business from product development, digital technology and our in-house creative agency to commercial teams and corporate functions and are looking forward to growing further in the new location.”
The LEGO Group opened its current London Hub at 8-10 New Fetter Lane in 2014. Since then, the number of employees based there has nearly tripled to 1,100 as the business has grown.
The company also will open a new Americas Hub in Boston, USA in May and a new Hub in Copenhagen, Denmark in 2027. It is also expanding its Billund headquarters with the new Kornmarken Campus housing engineering and innovation teams which will open in 2026 and a new Innovation Campus for designers set to be completed in 2027.
The company also has hubs in Singapore and Shanghai, 37 sales offices and six factories, and a new manufacturing site in the United States currently under construction. It employs more than 31,000 people globally.
