BRINGING LONDON TOGETHER
 

As one of London’s major transport nodes, King’s Cross will become perhaps the best connected development site in the capital with the completion of the new international station at St. Pancras, improved Thameslink services and direct links to the four main airports in the South East – Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted and Luton. Historically cut off from the mixed and intense residential neighbourhoods of Camden and Islington, the site acts as a hole in the fabric of North London, punctuated by elegant industrial buildings, gas holders and a romantic urban landscape along the Regent’s Canal. Abutting London’s institutional area to the south of Euston Road, the area has for generations been associated with the informal economy and activities of a large city station.

A project to redevelop the 27 hectare site by the developers Argent, is currently in the planning stage and envisages nearly 750,000 square metres of offices, shops and housing centred on a framework of tree-lined avenues and public squares. The key question raised by this mega-project is how to reconcile the aspiration to create a commercially viable neighbourhood with the enormous volume of through movement generated by its bustling transport infrastructure. How will the development cope with the needs of both transient and local populations, current and future residents?