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KING’S CROSS CENTRAL, MASTERPLAN,
LONDON, UK
The site is divided naturally into three areas, each with a distinct character. It would be held together by a network of routes and spaces which interconnect and link to surrounding areas.
The context of the South Area is dominated by the two huge stations: long facades, robust architecture, heavy passenger flows. The Boulevard and Pancras Square would together form a the focus for the South Area, fanning northwards with two new routes, connecting across the Canal via two new bridges. At each end, Station Square and Canal Square would form points of interlock, with the Euston Road to the South and the Goods Yard to the North. As the site narrows to the South, existing buildings would be embedded within the new urban grain. Some free-standing and some terraced new buildings would be suitable for sizeable floor-plate office use, with a full range of retail and other public uses at ground
HERITAGE BUILDINGS
NORTH-SOUTH CONNECTION
ACCESSIBILITY & CONNECTIVITY
URBAN FRAMEWORK
MIX OF USES
PLACEMAKING & PUBLIC REALM
level. A strong sense of urban enclosure would work with north-south permeability to give a dynamic but comfortable environment.
The Goods Yard is the Heart of the Site, and it would be the meeting place of all major routes within the Framework and of connections beyond the site. It consists of a series of public spaces, on two levels arranged and interconnected along the Regent’s Canal.
Its point of focus would be Granary Square with the Granary building as the centrepiece. Collectively, the existing buildings of the Goods Yard establish its strong character. It would be a unique destination for an eclectic mix of retail, and numerous other public uses such as exhibitions,
performing arts, sport and education, both locally and for London as a whole.
The North Area offers a broad mix of uses, and it would be larger and distinct from the South. Its central space, Long Park, would connect laterally and at its top end to York Way. Together with Granary Square and the Boulevard, it would form a central spine, joining up the site and connecting it to its context. The urban grain in the North Area fans out to the South to meet the Canal, just as the railways did in the past.
New blocks interlock with the existing buildings to form an integrated piece of the city. Every main street would have a mix of residential, office and other uses and would be active, day and night. The urban blocks at King’s Cross Central would also
benefit from: a tightly knit, diverse and flexible urban grain, underlying the plot divisions between individual buildings, which
would draw the city together at a wider level. Being interwoven with existing buildings of great character and quality. Using their pattern as the starting point for a new urban grain.
Being a truly integrated mixed-use development, King’s Cross Central would achieve a mix be- tween workplace, housing,
retail, leisure and public use which, among major commercial developments in Central London would be unique.
67 acres; 50 new buildings; 1,900 new homes; 20 new streets; 10 new public parks and squares; 26 acres of open space; 42,000 people by 2022