The King's Cross station area in London underwent a major redevelopment from 2000 to 2020. The 67-acre site was formerly industrial land that was contaminated and unsafe. The redevelopment created a mixed-use development with housing, offices, and public spaces. Over 40,000 people now live and work in the area. Connectivity was a major focus, with improved pedestrian and transit links within the development and to the wider city. The project balanced old and new architecture by reusing historic structures and adding new buildings. Flexible design allowed the project to adapt over time. While inclusive, some criticisms noted issues with housing affordability and disconnects between the site and surrounding neighborhoods.
The King's Cross station area in London underwent a major redevelopment from 2000 to 2020. The 67-acre site was formerly industrial land that was contaminated and unsafe. The redevelopment created a mixed-use development with housing, offices, and public spaces. Over 40,000 people now live and work in the area. Connectivity was a major focus, with improved pedestrian and transit links within the development and to the wider city. The project balanced old and new architecture by reusing historic structures and adding new buildings. Flexible design allowed the project to adapt over time. While inclusive, some criticisms noted issues with housing affordability and disconnects between the site and surrounding neighborhoods.
The King's Cross station area in London underwent a major redevelopment from 2000 to 2020. The 67-acre site was formerly industrial land that was contaminated and unsafe. The redevelopment created a mixed-use development with housing, offices, and public spaces. Over 40,000 people now live and work in the area. Connectivity was a major focus, with improved pedestrian and transit links within the development and to the wider city. The project balanced old and new architecture by reusing historic structures and adding new buildings. Flexible design allowed the project to adapt over time. While inclusive, some criticisms noted issues with housing affordability and disconnects between the site and surrounding neighborhoods.
The King's Cross station area in London underwent a major redevelopment from 2000 to 2020. The 67-acre site was formerly industrial land that was contaminated and unsafe. The redevelopment created a mixed-use development with housing, offices, and public spaces. Over 40,000 people now live and work in the area. Connectivity was a major focus, with improved pedestrian and transit links within the development and to the wider city. The project balanced old and new architecture by reusing historic structures and adding new buildings. Flexible design allowed the project to adapt over time. While inclusive, some criticisms noted issues with housing affordability and disconnects between the site and surrounding neighborhoods.
Status : Ongoing Total site area : 25.7 ha Area under public domain : 11.5 ha Architects : Allies and Morrison Year of completion : 2020
OVERVIEW
The king’s cross terminus which includes St. Pancras, as well as Euston station, is the principal transit hub for the city of London. It is also one of the busiest stations in the city. The restoration of the station sparked major development around it. Surrounded by predominant residential buildings the station gained its importance with completion of the high-speed rail called Channel tunnel rail link (CTRL). It not only connects other parts of the UK but also to major European cities like Paris and Brussels.
INTRODUCTION
The site is located to the north of King’s Cross station and St Pancras is a major urban regeneration project situated in central London. The 67 acres of the site designed and developed by Allies and Morrisons is located on the former rail and industrial facilities. In the 20th century, the area was considered to be dingy and mediocre in character. This vacant land then housed illegal activities which made this place unsafe. Before the development of the master plan, the land was contaminated and had various heritage buildings and warehouses. It then underwent a major redevelopment in the 21st century, the potential central piece was decided to redevelop after completion of high-speed rail which amplified the land value of king cross masterplan. It now houses around 42 thousand people out of which 30 thousand are the floating population. Placemaking and business hub was the key idea for development. The public realm which constitutes about 40% of the development was of prime consideration. The implementation strategies were carried out in phases. CONNECTIONS
Connectivity is the major aspect of the station has very good public and private transport accessibility with various modes of transports. York way is a major connection running in North-south direction forming an important edge to the site. The Regent’s canal which runs between the development divides the site into two but is the great east-west connector. The Goods way road along the canals is the major vehicular and pedestrian link. The canal cycle route is the dedicated cycling path along the east-west corridor offering a different experience to uses. The integration of various modes of transport has therefore amplified connectivity and ease of travel.
FIGURE-GROUND
The built and void ratio clearly defines the accessibility and public realm of the space. The urban form of the King’s cross-development is more organized and consistent as compared to its surrounding urban fabric. The project shall result in about 60% of the total site area being built which suggests the high- density development. On the northern side of the canal, the small block sizes with internal circulation and consistent grid pattern give pedestrians and cyclist a priority. Whereas in the southern area, the block shape is different and the axes are radial towards station square. The average block size is 80 x 60 mts reflects high connectivity within the site. 27 acres of land is under public domain which counts to remaining 40%. It offers residents and visitors a place to live, work and play.
BUILDING USE
The urban character so formed is further defined by the streamlined building
use. Predominated by commercial use, the King’s Cross development aimed in fabricating high-density mix-used development. The guidelines for buildings are set for circulation, building height, massing, and mix.
The buildings are designed to build to line, which ensures active frontages and maximizing ground level activities. Flexibility in terms of residential and commercial use has been inculcated to accommodate market demand and fluctuation. To encourage diversity in the income groups, housing ranging from affordable to luxury housing have been developed. The King’s Cross development lies between two viewing corridors of St Paul’s cathedral from Kenwood house and Parliament hill. Hence the maximum height of the building allowed for development is 30-31 mts. The height defines enclosure of space whereas, setbacks are set to encourage daylight to build and public spaces. Planned as human-scale development, buildings and blocks give a sense of strong urban enclosure. STRATEGIES
The success of the redevelopment project depended on the strategic
planning that was undertaken by the team. King’s cross-development involved multi-phased development of architecture i.e. – Reuse, restoration and new buildings which helped in retaining significant identity and character of its surrounding. It also helped in increasing the property value and creating a landmark. The architectural features of gas holders have been strengthened and reused as residential thereby, high valuation for the future. The old warehouse at Granary square which is now converted to London art school gives a visual representation of history and is a focal point Inclusive design and planning approach for public events. The restoration of coal drop to new retail center helped in Inward development effectively boosting the local economy and tourism. A clear definition between public and private domain has been denoted using the built form instead of fences or compound walls.
The development focused on inclusive design and planned public spaces to
direct people into the core of the area. Hence, major public spaces were planned at the heart of the site along the east-west corridor. The public realm strategy identified two principal routes for connectivity. The first is king’s boulevards which created north-south link over the regent canal connecting two main square- station square and granary square. The second route is along the canal in the east-west direction connecting historic buildings. These Balance of Contrast two routes facilitated public accessibility across the site and helped in Old-new Large -small, Regular- irregular redressing the access issues. The public land is owned and maintained by private ownership which also acts as a public space.
The seamless connectivity of public spaces, pedestrian movement, and active
frontages allowed porosity within the site. It formed an active spin within the development which created a series of footfall generating activities. Robust public transport connections further improve public accessibility and commute. Various public spaces catered to different user groups all around the day. The station square and Pancras square to south mainly furnish as split out for people coming out of station and employees respectively. Flexibility in design Whereas in the north, Granary square host large scale public events for Fix with fexibility students, visitors, and locals. The coal drop is a prime retail hub having restaurants, cafes, galleries, and boutiques. The community-level parks enclosed by buildings creates a safe environment for locals. The hierarchy of private, semi-private and public green space has been adapted to cater to the needs of the people.
The area development caters to the people within and around the city of London. This has been made possible because of the great urban environment and accessibility. The commercial sectors generated job opportunities for locals which attracted people from the city into the area. The development brought positive changes for locals improving their lifestyle. Various other public amenities such as education, health and recreation attracted locals and tourists alike. KEY TAKEWAYS
With the inclusive design which caters to the needs of all fell short of creating the other linkages. The site lacks direct north-south and east-west linkage that connects to the city. The barriers formed due to CTRL embankment creates a major challenge for access from the northwest and hence disconnects the site from its surrounding. York way which is an important connector and edge of the site has a great potential to become an activity spine between the site and the surrounding urban fabric. But there is no direct North-South vehicular connectivity within the development, hence York way has to deal with the pressure of traffic.
The king cross can grow beyond its site and can be an activity generator for nearby areas. The existing urban fabric around the site which is predominated by residential are single tenure housing. Hence it has the potential to convert themselves into mix typologies or altogether new residential property with the higher value which can also include social housing. Active ground floor use that communicates with the king cross masterplan can help in increasing its economy.
The vision of housing for all seems to be lost as the affordable housings are no more affordable. The long station facades have the problem of permeability and scale which disconnects people with new development. The urban fabric around lacks familiar scale and comprehensible urban grains.
With loopholes set aside the project also sets out to be a prime example for its kind. The PPP model implementation was an effective model for infrastructure and property development which helped in the development of the successful masterplan. The flexibility in design and phasing according to market requirement helped in the successful implementation of the masterplan. The maximum and minimum criteria for each building use helped in creating a balance between market demand and proposed used.
King cross is been transformed from once inaccessible and unused industrial land to vibrant mixed-use development. With the development of this urban area, it transformed and improved the life around it. With commercial development taking the lead helped in boosting the economy of the city while working closely and accommodating the lives and needs of the local communities It has also emerged as one of the “it-spots” for the tourists which have brought it into the limelight as one of the prime tourist destinations.
The only concern remains is the retention of the open spaces over the years. The rapid development has all the chances to engulf the green spaces in the future, as the site comes under the viewing corridor and has attained a maximum permissible height. The ownership of public spaces in the hands of private domain brings a new dimension of green retention into question. The legitimacy of the flexible strategies shall be put to test in the coming years, which one can hope shall stay put and alleviate the area as a prime example as planned.
