King’s Cross Central

At King’s Cross we’ll see 20 historic buildings and structures brought back to life; helping to define the character that will make King’s Cross the best place to visit, live, work and relax in Central London. We’ve worked closely with English Heritage from the outset ensuring that these heritage structures are restored and brought back into use. Of the total 8 million sq ft of mixed use granted at King's Cross, over 1million sq ft of retail, leisure, office and education uses will be within historic structures - where else in Central London could you find such a new opportunity? Robert Evans, Director, Argent

The redevelopment of the former railway lands at King’s Cross is one of the most important regeneration projects in London. The 53 acre brownfield site is partly a conservation area and contains some 20 historic buildings and structures. It is also the setting for two of the greatest monuments to the Victorian age of railway building: St Pancras and King’s Cross stations.

The size of the project had posed one of the most intimidating regeneration challenges in Europe, but developers Argent made a confident start by bringing in architects Allies & Morrison and Porphyrios Associates as masterplanners. That confident start also involved many constructive and collaborative pre-application discussions with English Heritage and Camden Borough Council - that continued throughout the seven years of preparation and public consultation needed to resolve the technical, financial, planning and conservation challenges posed by the project. Camden granted an “enhanced outline planning permission” for the project in 2007. This is a highly unusual form of permission; at face value contrary to guidance that would demand a detailed application for a conservation area. Both Camden and English Heritage recognised the unusual 20-year life-span needed to build the scheme. As long as we had detail enough to understand and assess likely impacts upon the historic environment we were happy to give the developer greater flexibility to respond to a changing market.

Kings Cross Central, London. © Argent

At the heart of the development is the repair and conversion of the site’s many historic industrial buildings and structures. An intelligent conversion of the imposing Granary Warehouse into the University of the Arts, designed by Stanton Williams Architects, has started on site. Two gasholders – major landmarks for generations of Londoners – will also be restored; one as an urban park and open-air performance venue, the other as the iron frame containing a remarkable new circular residential building.

Major change is continuing in an area often described as a microcosm of Victorian industrial London. Already, transformation of St Pancras Station into London’s Eurostar Terminal has been rightly hailed a spectacular triumph. The dramatic extension and refurbishment of King’s Cross Station is about to start and set to be a similar success. The imaginative conversion of the glorious gothic Midland Grand Hotel back to a luxury hotel and flats is underway and eagerly awaited. Together with King’s Cross Central, these projects are changing the face of the wider King’s Cross area. They also demonstrate English Heritage’s ability to work constructively alongside a confident and well-resourced local authority, with enlightened developers and talented architects, to get the best results out of the most important historic areas.