Facebook and Instagram owner Meta has opened its new building at King’s Cross, with space for 4,000 employees.

The £200m offices at 11-21 Canal Reach were opened by the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall, Charles and Camilla, on Wednesday.

The tech firm will also move additional employees into nearby 10 Lewis Cubitt Square. Meta and its brands will occupy 620,000 sq ft of workspace, including up to 5,000 workstations.

The new buildings will become home to engineering teams working on Instagram, Reality Labs – which is building the future of connection within virtual and augmented reality – as well as advertising products.

Steve Hatch, vice president for Northern Europe at Meta, said: “London is already our largest tech hub outside of the US and our new campus will now be home to thousands of high-skilled engineers. Our teams here are building innovative technologies to connect billions of people around the world and help small businesses grow, while also keeping our services safe.”

Both buildings are connected to the King’s Cross District Energy Network, which is powered by 100% renewable energy, meaning they benefit from zero-carbon heating, hot water and cooling.

Rod Stiles, director of BAM Construction London, said: “Our work on assessing embodied carbon took sustainability to new limits and has given us lasting landmarks that create new standards.

“Delivering the project on behalf of Argent three weeks early during Covid was testament to the collaborative teamwork between Argent and BAM. It has been a challenge and a triumph.”

Julian Lipscombe, director at Bennetts Associates said, “Crowned by a rooftop park with exceptional skyline views, 11-21 Canal Reach delivers over 400,000 sq ft of office space with the flexibility required by Meta. Furthering our proud association with King’s Cross, this latest scheme has a strong presence in the townscape and again focusses on sustainability whereby we’ve driven down the levels of embodied carbon by 30% compared to standard industry practice.”

On completion, the King’s Cross district will house around 42,000 employees.

Helen Causer, office lead at King’s Cross, said the arrival of Meta employees is even more exciting given the upheaval of the last two years, saying it reaffirms the view that workplaces "will always play a vital role in culture, connectivity and creativity".

On the other side of the canal from Meta, Google's "landscraper" building is taking shape by King's Cross railway station.