The nearly quarter-century-old, mile-long, 67-acre project to redevelop London’s King’s Cross is a monument to its age. This is the urban reorganization of the Blair era and where the third way was conceived, the idea that market forces, wisely directed by moderate government, could be a force for good. It will go down in the history books about cities as representing its time (if such things are written in the future), just as John Nash’s Regent’s Park represents the Regency and the Barbican the 1960s.
The masterplan’s architects, Allies, Morrison and Demetri Porphyrios, have submitted applications to this year’s RIBA awards programme, which could see the scheme shortlisted for the Stirling prize. This means that although there is still construction to be done, especially at Google headquarters, they consider the basic concept of the master plan to be complete. Cadence, the residential building by Alison Brooks Architects located at the pinnacle of one end of the site, has also been completed, with some glitches. Somewhat surprisingly, of the more than 30 practices built on the site, Brooks is the first to be named after a woman.
The project stretches from St Pancras and King’s Cross terminals, across a central open space called Granary Square, to a dense cluster of blocks and towers at the northern end, and is shaped around a long rectangular lawn, headed by Brooks’ building. one of the latest additions. It is extraordinarily successful both commercially and in achieving stated objectives. Its developers, Argent (elected in 2001), set out to achieve a place like the kind of cities you might want to go to on holiday, with open spaces that one of its architects called “incredibly delightful” and with children from surrounding areas in mind. office workers and art students playing in its fountains or relaxing in its open spaces – it certainly did. In its 50 new and renovated buildings, it has created approximately 1,700 homes, more than 40% of which are affordable, 30 bars and restaurants, 10 new public parks and squares, 4.25 m2 of offices and capacity for 30,000 office jobs.
Therefore, criticism of his architecture falls into the category of “wouldn’t it be nice if it were like this” rather than fundamentally abandoning his approach. But it creates a hard-to-define feeling that something is missing. For some this may be a lack of urban grit, but it is difficult and somewhat absurd to engineer this quality into new buildings. Rather, it seems that the development is uneasy about its own courage and dislikes conflict and tension. Opportunities for conflict and drama between old and new, or high and low, are greatly underestimated.
A combination of ambition and negotiation determines the character of the new business. This area was created by brutal industrial enterprises that built railways, canals and warehouses; These businesses couldn’t care less about the people who live there, environmental impacts, conservation, or public space. He created blind structures such as the multi-level food distribution center called the Granary and the famous series of gas holders that rose above their surroundings in his time. Today’s capitalism produces buildings several times larger, office blocks and apartment buildings that almost dwarf the industrial heritage but aim to reduce their scale.
The uncertain character of development comes from the conditions under which it occurs. The major building opportunity came largely from land consolidation to build the Channel tunnel rail link to St Pancras station. There was also a complex set of listed buildings on the site and the local community contained a number of vociferous objectors. When permission was granted in March 2006, it was only after a planning meeting that ran late into the night and by a narrow margin.
The architects did not propose a grand vision. His plans lacked design rules, a means by which consistency and uniformity are sometimes imposed on large developments. Instead, an irregular layout of streets and squares was produced, taking cues from patterns already found in the area; The streets passing from side to side, the canal passing over it, historical buildings. Architects of individual buildings were given “parameter plans” that gave them a general indication of how they should relate to their neighbors and fulfill what Allies and Morrison call “the duty to contribute to the greater whole.”
There’s a reluctance to let things be exactly the way they want them to be, whether it’s a large building, an industrial remnant, or a sidewalk cafe.
The master plan is based on “picturesque” principles derived from the theories of 19th-century Austrian planner Camillo Sitte, who was fascinated by such things as how a church tower might look along a winding medieval street. The idea is that you are “invited” from one space to another, where all the pieces are connected, buildings are less important than the spaces between them, and boundaries with surrounding areas are blurred so that the development can feel like a continuation of the rest of the city rather than a separate place.
The result is a series of contrasting spaces spanning the site from one end to the other: a long boulevard running from the train stations to the center of the site; an inward-facing square on one side, then a more open square in front of the Granary; then a long rectangular lawn stretching towards the far end, surrounded by buildings rising up to 15 stories. Smaller courtyards and streets pierce the blocks on the side of this central progression.
This is all good and successful, and an understandable reaction to the failures of more ambitious planning. There are handsome buildings of varying degrees along the way. However, there is a strangeness that arises from hiding the power of new buildings; from treating multi-storey blocks like street houses in a nice old European town, which they are not. It wouldn’t hurt to have an area or two more decisively shaped and have the kind of set for Nash to throw on every now and then.
New buildings also present some uncertainties at ground level. There are shops and food outlets, and sometimes there are adequately used sidewalks with outdoor seating, umbrellas, and flower pots, but more often than not there’s nothing particularly enjoyable or intended about this affair. The streets and open spaces in the newer, more northern blocks have a schematic feel. There’s a general reluctance to let things be exactly the way they want them to be, whether it’s a large building, an industrial remnant, or a sidewalk cafe. This is probably due to the de-risking attitude; Given the many dangers involved in realizing the project, the developers may not have wanted to take too many risks with the architecture.
Standing at the end of a long vista, Alison Brooks’s building offers some of the vibrancy that other buildings lack. It consists of a pair of red-brick towers, one tall and central, the other off-center and angled away from the prevailing right angles, with flickering rhythms of windows and recessed balconies. At the top and bottom, and in one or two places halfway through, irregular rows of arches appear, following Bézier curves that are not entirely circular, with an ancient-futuristic, Saharan-style appearance.Star wars to feel. They have a flexible structure that obviously does not carry too much weight. In the foyers and some of the upper floors, arches extend into vaults that create interesting layers of interior and exterior space, with folds in the plan and a small courtyard. Not every building needs to be this complicated, but it brings a nice sense of adventure.
King’s Cross has made a 180-degree turn from a place full of filth and danger, notorious for drug use and sex work, to a place full of cleanliness and safety. There are those who mourn the loss of the fiery creativity and cinematic excitement of the old version, but short of blaming it on cultural heritage, it’s hard to know how this character can be preserved. Places are changing, and the incredible happiness with the Allies that Morrison speaks of is no small feat. I wish King’s Cross’s final transformation had as much personality as the previous versions.