Kings Cross London : Development Information

Central St Martin’s College of Art & Design building - proposal Images + information received 160408: Kings Cross Central image © Andrew Putler University of the Arts, King’s Cross, London Introduction London Borough of Camden approved the planning permission for the new campus for the University of the Arts London’s Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design. In 2011, 5,000 staff and students will move from a number of disparate buildings on six separate sites across London to a state of the art campus in King’s Cross. The College will form the centre of a new cultural quarter in London, part of the regeneration of King’s Cross Central, a 67 acre development that is the largest in London for 150 years. The development is being led by Argent plc with landowners London & Continental Railways and DHL-Excel. At its heart will be the reinvented Granary complex, the new home for Central Saint Martins. The campus will be housed within the unique Grade II listed industrial complex, and will embrace the historic buildings as well as introducing powerful new contemporary interventions. Stanton Williams first worked on proposals for a new building in Holborn, designed to unite Central Saint Martins’ sites under one roof, following an international competition in 2001. The University of the Arts was offered the opportunity to move Central Saint Martins to a new site at King’s Cross by the developer Argent in 2006, a site of exceptional scale and quality offering the potential and flexibility that was not possible on the original Holborn site. Stanton Williams, who had previously worked with Argent on the award-wining Brindleyplace in Birmingham, were asked to develop a strategic plan and design for a new university campus that would allow Central Saint Martins to offer their students world-class facilities in a dynamic space, providing a highly visible identity and new focus for the College. The new campus will help to inspire cross-discipline connections that the University believes will be critical to the future of the creative industries. The space has been planned to create a social hub, with strong connections, providing many opportunities for casual conversations and exchange of ideas, and encouraging collaborations between departments, from fashion and art to dance and graphics. Central Saint Martins, Holborn The Central School of Arts & Craft’s first Principal WR Lethaby – an architect, designer and educationalist – asked that the building at Southampton Row, opened in 1908, be “plain, reasonable and well built”. The building helped pioneer a new form of teaching where students learnt by using tools in a workshop environment. True to this founding spirit, the new campus is designed to be flexible, tough and ‘robust’ – providing spaces that will allow the different disciplines within the college to develop their own identities, while maintaining the integrity of the campus as a whole. Careful attention to detail: respecting the austere beauty of the existing Eastern Goods Yard Buildings; juxtaposing old with new; and introducing a robust, contemporary palette of materials of high quality concrete, steel and glass, will ensure that the campus reflects its roots, while providing state of the art facilities for a new creative generation. King’s Cross The imposing Grade II listed Granary building, built in 1852 by Lewis Cubitt (the architect behind King’s Cross station), and adjoining 19th-century transit sheds, were used to transport commodities and grain from the wheat fields of Lincolnshire to London’s bakers, and coal from the north east of England. Remnants of the original loading platforms, wagon turntables and tracks still remain. Hoists lifted sacks from the railway wagons into canal boats docked beneath, while horses were stabled beneath the railway sheds. These vertical connections, so important for the functioning of its original purpose, are reflected in the design of the new building. New lightwells, drawing light deep into the core of the building, reinforce the original vertical links, while new glazed rooflights will display the original hoists. Scenic glass lifts will transport people, rather than grain, to the higher floors. The stables will find a new use as bicycle stores for students and staff. Horizontal connections have also been carefully developed to maximise student interaction, ease circulation while respecting the historic fabric. The canal basin in front of the building, long since filled in, forms part of the new Granary Square leading down to the canal. Designed by Townsend Landscape Architects, it will feature hundreds of fountains and is defined at its eastern edge by a contemporary two-storey glass cafe pavilion designed by Stanton Williams to add life and interest to the new public space. The site The Eastern Goods Yard, part of the King’s Cross Goods Yard, is located in the centre of the King’s Cross Central development, to the north of the Regent’s Canal. The six storey brick, cast iron and timber Granary building is 55 metres in length and 31 metres deep. It is flanked on either side by the Eastern and Western Transit sheds, also designed by Cubitt, that are each 180 metres long, 25 metres wide and 7.6 metres high. The Assembly shed, between the two transit sheds, was originally used to marshall rail wagons. Offices were added to the southern end of the transit sheds towards the end of the nineteenth century. The Goods Yard retains many of the original rails and turntables within its granite setts. A large cast iron sawtooth canopy, the West Handyside Canopy, running alongside the Eastern Transit shed will be refurbished and retained, and will feature glazed north lights and photo voltaic cells. The Western Transit shed is not part of the University campus. Creating visual unity on the site, these will be redesigned by Stanton Williams, providing flexible retail and leisure space, including new headquarter offices for Argent, with historic features such as sections of train platforms retained. The complex includes other historic structures, including the East Handyside Canopy, Regeneration House and Midland Shed, which are outside the scope of the project. New buildings Flexible and adaptable new four storey studio buildings, new performance spaces and a new top lit internal north/south street will replace the Assembly Sheds, transforming the space while respecting the scale and massing of the existing buildings, and roof lines. The sculptural cantilevered form of the new theatre space at the north of the site, with its own entrance, is designed with high quality in situ concrete with inset glazing and metalwork, to create a contemporary and contrasting composition in between the two historic transit sheds. Key historical elements of the Eastern Transit Shed, East Granary Office and the Granary building will be carefully refurbished and repaired, with the internal space transformed and contemporary insertions and new structural openings, which complement the historic fabric, drawing light deep into the building. To improve circulation and enhance light and views of the surrounding spaces, new arches will be inserted into the brick wall between the Eastern Transit Shed and new buildings, and original blind arches opened up. Bricked up windows in the granary building will also be re-opened. The original cast iron beams will be retained to frame the entrances into a new covered street. Public access will be encouraged on the site, with the new internal east/west link to the north of the Granary Building. A top lit north/south street acts as the main circulation route within the Central Saint Martins campus. To provide shelter from the elements, it will be covered with ETFE, a material selected for its improved thermal performance, exceptional light transmission and light weight construction. New connections and generously wide bridges, spanning and animating the internal street, will encourage student interaction. The street space is large and flexible enough to accommodate a range of activities, such as fashion shows, exhibitons and social areas. Facilities The new campus will provide : · Dynamic new teaching spaces, studios and workshops · Social spaces including restaurants and cafes · Lecture theatre and seminar facilities for up to 350 people · Flexible performance, rehearsal and exhibition spaces – a main theatre that can accommodate up to 280 people, a 100 seat studio and foyer bar, for both student and public access · A museum and gallery · Library and archive facilities · A research centre and innovation centre · A roof terrace with dramatic city views · State of the art wi-fi services and technology · Office accomodation and security checkpoints Sustainability The University’s brief was to provide an environmentally sensitive building, minimising impact on natural resources. The building’s design maximises natural daylight, while respecting its historic character. The holistic and sustainable energy strategy, which includes the use of thermal mass to cool the building, insulation, sensitive double glazing of original windows, and the use of photovolatic cells, means the building is working towards a BREEAM rating of ‘excellent’. Kings Cross Central architects : Stanton Williams The University of the Arts, encompassing Central Saint Martin’s, Camberwell College of Arts, Chelsea College of Art and Design, London College of Communication, London College of Fashion and Wimbledon College of Art, was formed in 2004 and is the largest university for art, design, fashion and the performing arts in Europe. Renowned alumni include Lucian Freud, John Galliano and Stella McCartney Outline planning permission for the whole 67 acre King’s Cross Central estate, including the granary complex, was granted by the London Borough of Camden in December 2006. A detailed planning application for this project, the first to be submitted for the whole site, was made in September 2007 The total construction value of the project is approximately £150 million including the public realm The area of the new campus for the University of the Arts is 39,000 sq m. The juxtaposition of old and new in the development is being informed by other award-winning projects in Stanton Williams’ portfolio – including the new galleries at the Grade I listed Compton Verney in Warwickshire, and transformation of the historic headland and visitor facilities at Whitby Abbey. The Eastern Goods Yard site was vacant by the end of 2007. Construction work will commence in spring 2008, and practical completion is scheduled for December 2010. The building will open as Central Saint Martins’ new campus in September 2011. The project is being constructed as a design and build contract by contractor HBG. CABE says: “We congratulate the design team and client on overcoming the considerable challenges associated with developing the Eastern Goods Yard site, to produce a remarkable scheme that is sensitive to context yet bold in its vision.” Previously: Info from Stanton Williams Architects 7Nov 2007 King’s Cross Central – Eastern Goods Yard Kings Cross Central images © Andrew Putler Stanton Williams’ design for the mixed use scheme responds to the raw beauty and industrial background of the Granary Building and its Transit Sheds, by drawing the height, scale and texture of the new College from the massing and grain of the Grade II listed structure. The College will be a light-filled contemporary building providing art and dance studios, office, theatre, exhibition space, bars, restaurants and a roof garden. At the heart of the College will be a top lit main ‘street’ over sailed by bridges, functioning as circulation space, meeting and exhibition area. Kings Cross Central image © Andrew Putler Central Saint Martins will occupy the greater part of the King’s Cross Granary Complex. Granary Square will be a vibrant public space overlooking the Regent’s Canal, surrounded by cafes and restaurants and giving access to the retail and office units housed in the Western Transit Shed. King’s Cross Central is one of the most significant development and regeneration opportunities in London. It is being developed by Argent and owned by London and Continental Railways and DHL-Exel.