The new US embassy in London broke ground today in a ceremony that included Ambassador Matthew Barzun, Director of Overseas Building Operations Lydia Muniz, and Leader of Wandsworth Council Ravi Govindia. The embassy, which will stand on a 4.9-acre site in the Nine Elms neighborhood on the South Bank of the Thames, is expected to be completed in 2017. Its design reflects values of transparency, openness, and equality as well as leading-edge measures of environmental responsibility, including an energy-gathering envelope and on-site water management system.

In his remarks at the ceremony, Ambassador Barzun said, “Today is for celebrating a new facet of the special relationship. The U.S. and the U.K. have long been partners in development across the globe. But today we celebrate a different kind of development—the continued development and evolution of London itself. We are proud to be putting down roots in Nine Elms. And we're proud to provide an anchor for more businesses and jobs, bringing thousands of new neighbors to fuel economic revitalization here.”

See photographs of the groundbreaking ceremony and Nine Elms site.