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Kings Cross ArtHouse
High-quality, mixed-use, mixed-tenure apartment building
Status: Completed
Location: London
King’s Cross Central is a significant residential development in one of the largest urban regeneration projects in Europe. Through careful design, it fosters neighbourliness and maximises personal space inside and public space outside.
Collaborators
Cost Consultant Davis LangdonStructural Engineer Arup
Services Engineer AECOM
CDM Coordinator David Eagle
Executive Architect Weedon Partnership
Landscape Architect Townshend Landscape Architects
Main Contractor Kier Group
We were selected through competition to set the standard for new homes as part of the 67-acre King’s Cross Central Regeneration.
Developed by Argent, this is one of the largest urban regeneration projects in Europe. It also includes the University of the Arts, galleries, an extensive retail development and the Guardian newspaper.
The site was inauspicious, situated as it was beside the busy York Way and on top of the busy Piccadilly line underground.
Our approach was to create a series of 143 apartments arranged within mini towers, a solution that breaks the building into four smaller communities and fosters a neighbourly atmosphere.
Courtyards form a saw-tooth arrangement along the edge of Handyside Park, creating better light and views for the residents and increased green space for the public outside. Residents’ light and space is further improved with the use of balconies, full-length windows and roof terraces. Spacious entrance lobbies and a basement car park provide a sense of the resident’s ‘home’ beginning outside the confines of their apartments.
ArtHouse serves a social function, with 29 of the apartments set aside for affordable housing, a high proportion of which have family-sized 3-4 bed units benefiting from its location on Handyside Gardens.
There is a range of commercial spaces on the ground floor creating a diversity of use that provides interest and activation to York Way. Two micro units have been created within Handyside Gardens to serve the needs of visitors.
Apartments are principally dual aspect with big view across Kings Cross, The Regents Canal and its environs. The Handyside Garden façade has been elongated to maximise the number of apartments that enjoy the westerly park side aspect. All apartments enjoy full-height glazed façades, which maximise the views and the feeling of space and light.
Sliding screens allow residents to control the environment passively, whilst also providing privacy.
ArtHouse demonstrates the sort of intelligent, person-centred design that has become a signature of our residential projects. York Road has been tempered by a building that takes inspiration from the site’s proud industrial heritage and adds value that far exceeded the client’s expectations.
Director
Insight: Philip Marsh
Our structural engineers, Arup, helped us to deal with the challenge of building above the Piccadilly line.
By introducing a Gerba spring system between the basement and ground floor concrete slabs, we managed to prevent the transmission of vibration and sound up through the building.
Interior specialists Johnson Naylor have designed exquisite interiors that offer the highest standard in Kings Cross urban living.
dRMM brought personal creativity, innovative design and a fresh approach
Joint Chief Executive, Argent
