King’s Cross Building London, Camden Council Contact Centre, Office Accommodation
King’s Cross Building : Camden Council Centre
Development in North London design by Bennetts Associates, UK
8 Nov 2011
King’s Cross Building
Design: Bennetts Associates
Camden Council Building from Camley Street:
image from architects
New King’s Cross building given the go ahead
Planning permission for Camden Council’s contact centre and office accommodation, new two-pool public sports centre and modern public library at King’s Cross have been given the green light.
The planning application, which was submitted by King’s Cross Central Limited Partnership (KCCLP), was approved by Camden Council’s Development Control Committee (3 Nov 2011).
The new sustainable building, built to high green standards, will be at the heart of the wider Kings Cross development at Pancras Square, which includes new shops, leisure facilities and open spaces.
Cllr Theo Blackwell, Cabinet member for Finance, Camden Council said:
”For more than two decades the Council has driven the regeneration of Kings Cross. With this new building we will be an active and permanent part of it, linking the largest inner city development in western Europe, with residents in the rest of the borough. The new building will provide new public services for local residents and save in excess of £77m which would otherwise be bled from other budgets to refurbish and maintain existing public buildings.
“The new building will provide a modern new library and sport facilities and Contact Centre making it easier for residents to use services. It will also offer us more efficient and cost effective office accommodation, saving the taxpayer money which can be invested elsewhere. It is a self-financing solution which will not take funding away from service budgets.”
The sale/termination of leases at seven existing buildings together with savings on running costs will pay for the new facility. It will include office accommodation for the Council and others and lead to savings on the Council’s hefty maintenance bills in the future.
Kings Cross is one of the largest developments of its kind in Europe, and is delivering up to 2,000 new homes, 3.4m sq ft net of office space and 500,000sq ft of retail space. There will be 20 new streets, 10 major public spaces and 20 historic buildings and structures are being restored and refurbished across the 67 acre site.
Camden Council Building – West Entrance:
image from architects
Robert Evans from King’s Cross said:
“We are delighted Camden Council’s development control committee has approved the detailed plans for Building 3 (B3) at Pancras Square. This will be a very high quality building, combining flexible, efficient office spaces for the Council and others and modern public leisure and library facilities with elegant architecture and the very highest standards of sustainability. This decision means that we can now bring forward, at the same time, four major office buildings around Pancras Square for completion in 2014 and 2015.”
Together, Camden Council and KCCLP are aiming to make the Council’s new building one of the first inner-city buildings in the UK to achieve a BREEAM ‘Outstanding’ sustainability rating. This is the highest level of sustainability and would place the building at the forefront of sustainable design.
Building work on-site is due to start early next year, with completion scheduled for summer 2014.
King’s Cross Building – Background Information
About King’s Cross
In total, the King’s Cross Central Partnership project is delivering up to 2,000 new homes, 3.4m sq ft net of office space and 500,000sq ft of retail space. There will be 20 new streets, 10 major public spaces and 20 historic buildings and structures are being restored and refurbished across the 67 acre site
To date seven significant agreements are confirmed at King’s Cross Central – in order of moving in they are:
1. University of the Arts London – 5,000 staff and students of Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design who recently started term at King’s Cross (Sep 2011)
2. RAM – which is re-opening the Great Northern Hotel in 2012
3. One Housing Group – will own and manage hundreds of affordable homes. The first two buildings are on site and the first homes will be ready in 2012
4. urbanest UK – will deliver a 657-bedroom landmark student housing scheme ready for occupation in September 2013
5. Camden Council – move into a new office building in Pancras Square in 2014
6. BNP Paribas Real Estate – who will move into a new 340,000sq ft office building at Plot B1. Work is due to begin in autumn 2012, with delivery by the end of 2014
7. The Aga Khan Development Network and King’s Cross Central Limited Partnership have entered into agreements to develop educational, office, cultural, retail and residential spaces. Construction is due to start in late 2012.
Around King’s Cross, over £2bn has been invested in the transport infrastructure alone, with the latest investment, a new concourse for King’s Cross station, opening in 2012. The King’s Cross Central Limited Partnership is investing over £250m in public realm, energy and other infrastructure including:
1. Granary Square – one of the largest public squares in London
2. The energy centre and district heating grid
3. Three new bridges across the Regent’s Canal
4. 20 new roads including ‘King’s Boulevard’ which is now open.
For more information visit www.kingscross.co.uk
King’s Cross is being developed by the King’s Cross Central Limited Partnership, which brings together Argent King’s Cross Limited Partnership, London & Continental Railways Limited and DHL Supply Chain.
King’s Cross Building Camden images / information from Bennetts Associates
Camden Council Public Building, Pancras Square, London, UK
Design: Bennetts Associates Architects
image from architects
The new Camden Council public building at Pancras Square, King’s Cross, is set to be one of the greenest in the city after achieving a BREEAM sustainable design rating of ‘Outstanding’.
Location: King’s Cross, London, England, UK
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Across the Buildings, Felice Varini
17 May – 18 Oct 2013, King’s Cross, London, UK
photo : John Sturrock
Vast geometric painting to span the King’s Cross skyline
Paris-based, Swiss artist Felice Varini has taken the cityscape of King’s Cross as his canvas for an intervention onto the façades of the heritage buildings which form part of the area’s historic industrial infrastructure. His site-specific installation, ‘Across the Buildings’ consists of a series of monumental metallic geometric shapes which will run the entire 542 metres of Granary Square north of Regent’s Canal. ‘Across the Buildings’ is the third artwork to be revealed as part of RELAY, the dedicated art programme at King’s Cross, curated by Michael Pinsky and Stéphanie Delcroix.
From street level, the geometric shapes appear arbitrary, scattered across facades of buildings such as the Fish and Coal Offices, the Midlands Goods Shed and the Granary Building. However from a single and unique viewpoint, the geometric shapes will unify, framing the site into one contiguous pattern.
Installation of this colossal artwork will take place over a thirty-day period, Varini’s painstaking installation method involves vast night-time projections of the image onto the site by a PIGI camera, transported for the purpose from France. A team of assistants then trace around the projected shapes with a chinagraph pencil, after which aluminum and vinyl is cut to fit the stenciled forms and fixed into place on the building exteriors.
‘Across the Buildings’ is Varini’s first major commission in England. Often referred to as an ‘abstract painter’, Varini intervenes with the space and perception of built environments by creating a unique vantage point in which the viewer can see the complete image, whilst from other viewpoints only fragmented shapes are visible. This unique framing gives the impression that one can ‘touch’ the buildings from where they are standing.
The RELAY arts programme is funded by the King’s Cross Central Limited Partnership and has received the support of Eurostar.
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