Archinect - News

London's Camden Highline proposal submitted for planning, set to open first phase in 2025

2022-05-19T18:51:00-04:00

London’s proposed Camden Highline has been submitted for planning. Led by the practice behind the New York High Line, James Corner Field Operations, and Camden-based firm vPPR Architects, the project will regenerate a disused railway viaduct to establish an elevated park that connects Camden Town to Kings Cross.

The master plan will create walking routes between local neighborhoods and inject needed green space across a mix of communities. It will feature gardens, walkways, seating areas, cafés, arts and cultural interventions, spaces for charitable activities, and play areas for children. The initiative also aims to boost the region’s biodiversity by providing wildlife habitats for birds, insects, and animals.

Previously on Archinect: James Corner Field Operations to lead design for new UK Highline

“We are extremely excited to share this design vision for Camden Highline,” said Lead Designer James Corner. “The design is intended to celebrate and amplify the unique characteristics ...

The proliferation of facial recognition causes concern in London

2019-08-16T17:00:00-04:00

It emerged...that the property developer Argent was using the cameras “in the interests of public safety” in King’s Cross, mostly north of the railway station across an area including the Google headquarters and the Central Saint Martins art school, but the precise uses of the technology remained unclear.

Residents in the King's Cross district in London have mixed feelings concerning the use of facial recognition CCTV in the area. “For law enforcement purposes, there is some justification, but personally I don’t think a private developer has the right to have that in a public place,” one resident told The Guardian, expressing his dissatisfaction with the technology's use by a "private entity."

Others didn't seem to care as much."I don't mind being recognized...Actually, I feel safer if it's used for security reasons...," another resident expressed to The Guardian, sharing her favor with it being used to keep out criminals. In the end, it doesn't seem clear what the technology is being used for, however.

Heatherwick Studio's Coal Drops Yard opens its doors to the public

2018-10-29T18:56:00-04:00

Heatherwick Studio's much anticipated Coal Drops Yard project opened its doors on Friday, October 26th. The London based studio transformed two heritage rail buildings from the 1850s into a lively retail district. The goal for Thomas Heatherwick, founder of Heatherwick Studio, was to highlight the existing architectural elements while satisfying the new needs of a new urban development.

Image © Luke Hayes

Developing into London's new creative sector, King's Cross is already home to 67 acres of businesses, restaurants, and amazing architecture. The completion of Coal Drops Yard only adds to King's Cross' cultural presence within the city.

Image © Hufton & Crow

The studio artfully highlights the historical and textural details of the industrial Victorian style buildings while creating a functional retail and public space. The project's main design feature are the defining gabled roofs that link two viaducts. The flowing roofs create a focal point for the space that transforms the gamb...

Heatherwick's upcoming Coal Drops Yard in King’s Cross due to open October 2018

2018-07-27T14:28:00-04:00

A major new shopping district and public space in King’s Cross is set to open to the public on Friday 26 October 2018. Designed by Thomas Heatherwick, his studio has overseen the transformation of two dilapidated heritage rail buildings into a lively retail precinct.

King's Cross, a former rail hub, has undergone an astonishing renewal in recent years as warehouse clubs have been replaced by wine bars and bistros. Heatherwick's Coal Drops Yard is the newest addition to the neighborhood that has recently welcomed Facebook, and will soon take in the impending Google headquarters, also designed by Heatherwick Studio in collaboration with BIG.

Heatherwick and his team, however, are long term residents of the area. His studio has been based in King's Cross for over seventeen years giving the British starchitect a privileged degree of architectural sensitivity to oversee the spatial design. "We believed there was an opportunity to celebrate the heritage of the existing structures rather...

Facebook to double its London presence with new King's Cross buildings by AHMM and Bennetts

2018-07-25T13:57:00-04:00

Facebook is doubling its presence in London by acquiring office space across two buildings in King's Cross. The 600,000 square feet (56,000 square meters) of office space will be enough for more than 6,000 workstations. [...] The expansion follows the 2017 opening of its site at Rathbone Place, which added 800 jobs and opened its first in-house incubator program for startup businesses. It also has a location on Brock Street.

Considerably ramping up its workplace capacity by 611,000 sq ft in soon-to-be post-Brexit London, Facebook will be moving into new buildings at King's Cross: 11 and 21 Canal Reach, designed by Bennetts Associates, the ten and twelve-story-buildings already have detailed planning permission, as well as the nine-story-structure P2 by 2015 Stirling-Prize winning Allford Hall Monaghan Morris (AHMM) with a pending reserved matters planning application.

11 and 21 Canal Reach by Bennetts Associates. Image: King's Cross.

"The deal comes just weeks after Samsung Electronics announced an agreement to open ‘Samsung KX LDN’, a 20,000 sq ft showcase space at Coal Drops Yard, the new Heatherwick Studio-designed shopping and lifestyle district in King’s Cross, in October," reads a King's Cross statement.

The new offices are expected to open in 2021.

Gehry reportedly tapped for new Facebook London HQ in King’s Cross

2018-02-12T13:44:00-05:00

Facebook is close to signing a deal for a new British headquarters at the King’s Cross redevelopment in London. The social media giant is understood to be finalising outline terms with King’s Cross Central, which is majority-owned by the AustralianSuper pension fund. Facebook is expected to take four buildings covering more than 700,000 sq ft, tripling the size of its footprint in the capital.

King's Cross is further strengthening its position as London's emerging tech hub, following previous proposed developments like Google's mega "landscraper" HQ, designed jointly by Heatherwick Studio and BIG.

According to The Times and Architect's Journal, Gehry Partners is considered as architect for the new Facebook London base. Gehry and Zuckerberg go way back and have already collaborated on Facebook's Silicon Valley, New York, Dublin, and other London offices.

Bartlett students collaborate with mobile urban garden project in London

2015-07-24T12:51:00-04:00

Kings Cross, a northern-London borough with an industrial history, has been undergoing massive redevelopment efforts since the turn of the millennium. Since then, the area has been referred to as an ongoing construction site, as a university, schools, affordable housing, and a public swimming facility have cropped up. And on July 22nd, undergraduate students at the UCL Bartlett School of Architecture unveiled seven structures built into a new public garden in the area.

The structures were built in collaboration with an urban community garden project called Skip Gardens – referring to the “skips” or “dumpsters” (as they’re known in the US) where the flora was planted, making the Gardens mobile. Now, the students’ projects have been installed in the midst of Skip Gardens, and are open to the public, offering new facilities for educational vents, cooking, farming and dining.

The structures are varied, but often feature reclaimed materials. There’s a chicken coop made from bamboo, a hydro...