King’s Cross Redevelopment

King’s Cross Redevelopment

“After years of urban decay, London’s King’s Cross district is nearing the end of US$3.2 billion makeover, including the redevelopment of two neighboring Victorian railway stations, one of which now houses the sleek Eurostar service to Paris. The area around King’s Cross is at the center of one of Europe’s largest regeneration projects, which includes space for new offices, shops, leisure facilities and about 2,000 apartments. Judges who were familiar with this formerly decaying part of London marveled at how transformational the work has been” (KPMG).

King’s Cross spreads over 67 acres. There have been many plans for its redevelopment including: a whole series of new public squares and gardens have, among them Granary Square, Lewis Cubitt Park and Square and the new Gasholder Park. At least a third of the site (25 acres/10 hectares) will be dedicated to new public routes and open spaces. Buildings under construction in this zone would typically have storeys in the range of 1-19.

This revitalization of the community is considered to be one of the best in the world. “The 67-acre regeneration scheme is now halfway to completion. By 2020, the site will include 2,000 new homes, a new primary school, 10 public squares, three parks, a lido, 500,000 sq ft of restaurant and retail space, and 3.4m sq ft of office space, including Google’s new UK headquarters” (Financial Times).

A current picture of King's Cross (Image Credits: kingscross.co.uk)