A sense of place refers to the attachment someone may have towards a particular location or area and also provides a unique set of qualities and characteristics which may be visual, cultural, environmental or social. This depends on the positive or negative experience they have when they visit the area or location.
King’s Cross is located in Central London, part of the London Borough of Camden, and is one of the major rail routes within London and nationally. In the 1990s, the UK government decided to regenerate the area to increase the level of tourism and commercial properties as well as promoting a safe neighbourhood.
Before the regeneration of King’s Cross, the area consisted of warehouses, contaminated land, unoccupied buildings as well as historic buildings and structures from the Victorian era. With the remains of gasholders, gasworks and old abandoned factories we know that King’s Cross was an industrial and transport hub. The site has a history of Victorian railways and canal structures which was used to transport materials such as coal, grains and building materials. In the 1980s, King’s Cross had a negative reputation as it was notorious for drugs and the area was neglected compared to other locations within Central London.
Argent, the developers of the project, created a master plan whereby in 2020, they will deliver 500,000 square feet of retail and leisure space, 2000 homes, 26 acres of open space, educational facilities, hotel and 3.4 million square feet of office space. The goal is to bring people into the area and create a positive reputation and sense of place and regenerate it into a thriving location in Central London.
The connectivity of a place refers to how connected an area is to other neighbouring areas and towns and other parts of the country and this is measured by the transport links it has. Connectivity is important to any area because the developers and architects need to consider how the public and tourists are going to visit the area and what the different methods of transportation could be. If the transport and infrastructure is poor, the sense of place will be negative which will impact the number of tourists to the area.
King’s Cross is one of the major transport hubs in Central London, after London Euston, St Pancras and London Victoria, as it has links with six Underground lines, Piccadilly Line, Circle Line, Northern Line, Victoria Line, Hammersmith & City Line and Metropolitan Line, and is connected to the five international airports with direct links with Heathrow, Gatwick and Luton Airport. This is important because it forms a transition between the different areas within London as well as other cities outside London. There is also an international rail service, Eurostar, to Paris, Brussels, Lille and Amsterdam which moved from Waterloo Station to St Pancreas in 2007. By moving the Eurostar to King’s Cross, the developers realised that they have to accommodate the large number of passengers visiting London daily and make it easier for them to navigate around the area. This is why £2.5 billion has been spent on transport infrastructure in the past decade to accommodate for the 75.365 million passengers visiting King’s Cross and St Pancreas annually (statistic from 2016-2017).
Public spaces are important at King’s Cross. The industrial wastelands have been transformed into parks and gardens where various activities and events are held throughout the year. e.g food stalls and outdoor cinemas. Argent have developed 12 unique public spaces for the community such as Lewis Cubitt Park, Granary Square and Gasholder Park.
Granary Square, designed by Townsend Landscape Architects, is located on the banks of Regent’s Canal and is considered to be the main public space in King’s Cross. The main attraction in the Square is the fountains which is popular amongst the public, especially children. It attracted 175000 visitors in 2012-2013 and in the summer months it turns into an urban beach. The aesthetic design of the square offers a positive ambiance because it gives the public an area which is associated with fun.
Gasholder Park, designed by Bell Phillips Architects, is stationed along the banks of Regent’s Canal. The park includes the cast iron frame of Gasholder number 8 which held 1.1 million cubic feet of gas in the Victorian era. Argent wanted to preserve some of the heritage King’s Cross has to offer, so the gasholder frame was restored and converted into a circular lawn where the public can relax. Some of the other gasholder frames have also been restored and converted into apartment blocks to incorporate the Victorian heritage into the redevelopment and also to give the apartments a sense of individuality compared to the other high-rise residential buildings in the area.
Adjacent to Handyside Street is Lewis Cubitt Park which is the main green open space at King’s Cross. As the park is surrounded by residential and commercial high-rise buildings, Argent wanted to create a space where families, students and the locals could come together as a community. Events such as fitness sessions, food and drink festivals take place here throughout the year. The developers designed a pond in the park for children and adults to swim. This feature is a positive for the area and provides a unique sense of place because very few parks in London have water themed recreational spaces due to the lack of space.
Along with the various open spaces, King’s Cross have some popular bars and restaurants. These places provide a social aspect to the public as this is where they can come together, enjoy and fulfil a human need of connecting with others. Every week in Granary Square, there are food markets and pop-up stalls which was popular especially during the lunchtime traffic of students and office workers. These pop-up food stalls showcase food from across the world which is an added benefit to the area as it brings together the international community and also introduces new cultures.
After construction, there will be 23 new and refurbished office buildings in King’s Cross. Big businesses moving into King’s Cross, will increase employment opportunities as there will be more jobs available which in turn will provide an economic benefit to the area. Google have announced that they will be moving into King’s Cross where they will base their London headquarters. According to Argent, 8500 employees work in the commercial sector on site, 94% is in offices, 3% in retail and 3% in leisure and these employees will generate a total salary value of £280 million per annum and a total economic value of £480 million per annum. This will boost the local economy as well as the country’s GDP (gross domestic product).
Argent, the developers, wanted to create a vibrant and diverse area at King’s Cross and managed to do this via the retail sector. They planned to bring international unique boutiques as well as the popular brands on the high street onto King’s Boulevard. This uniqueness has already been recognised by high-end brands, such as Alexander McQueen and Vivienne Westwood, as they used Coals Drops Yard as catwalks during Fashion Week. This is a benefit because this attracts national and international people as well as global high-end companies who may potentially open up stores in King’s Cross in the future. Some of the office buildings have incorporated retail space on the ground floor where retail businesses can rent the space out for a cheaper price. This is a benefit because it allows the buildings to be of multi-purpose instead of being an office block or a store and it also provides a secondary source of income for the owners of the building.
Argent’s plan was to create 2000 homes which includes student housing, high-end and affordable housing, flats/apartments available to rent and shared-ownership buyers. Urbanest, student housing developers, has developed a 27-story tower for 650 students who attend the local university, University of the Arts London. According to Argent, 19% of the houses will be affordable and shared ownership, 17% are social rent or supported housing. By building apartments, this encourages people to move into the area especially that there is a housing shortage in Central London. When people move into their flat/apartments, the sense of place will be positive because they will make memories and make it into a home.
The Great Northern Hotel, located opposite St Pancreas, opened in 1854 for the employees of the Great Northern Railway Company. After being derelict for 12 years, the hotel was restored after investing £40 million. The developers decided to keep the exterior façade of the building to preserve the heritage of the hotel.
In conclusion, I think that the King’s Cross development was a good idea because it has transformed the area from abandoned and contaminated land into an urban hub where the space has been used effectively. The developers have ensured that aspects from all sections of society have been taken into consideration whilst planning and designing the area and they have transformed and shaped this public realm into something attractive.