Travel8ing - King's Cross Station

King's Cross Station

Design Concept

The transformation of King’s Cross Station for Network Rail involved three very different styles of architecture: re-use, restoration and new build. The train shed and range buildings were adapted and re-used, the station’s previously obscured Grade I listed façade was precisely restored, and a new, highly expressive Western Concourse was designed as a centrepiece and the 'beating heart' of the project.
John McAslan + Partners began work on the project in 1998 and established the overall master-plan for the development in 2005. As a result the practice has played a key role in the wider transformation of the King's Cross area - infrastructural, social and commercial changes that now connect the station with the massive King’s Cross Central scheme north of the station as well as to St Pancras, the London Underground, and the surrounding urban context.
The architectural ambition of JMP’s scheme was to create a new iconic landmark that would function as a key catalyst for the ongoing regeneration of this new London quarter as well as providing striking new facilities that will accommodate the 50 million passengers passing through the station each year.
The station’s Main Train Shed is 250m long, 22m high and 65m wide, spanning eight platforms. The restoration includes revealing the bold architecture of the original south façade, re-glazing the north and south gables and refurbishing platforms The two barrel-vaulted roofs were refurbished and lined with energy-saving photo-voltaic arrays along the linear roof lanterns, while a new glass footbridge designed by JMP extends across the Main Train Shed, replacing the old mid-shed Handyside bridge and giving access to every platform as well as the mezzanine level of the concourse.
JMP’s design integrates the main and suburban train sheds for the first time, creating a completely coherent ground-plan for passenger movements into and through the station. Improvements to the Suburban Train Shed located to the north of the Western Concourse and Western Range buildings have enhanced the operation of its three platforms (the busiest in the station during peak-hours).
The ambitious transformation of the station creates a remarkable dialogue between Cubitt’s original station and 21st-century architecture - a quantum shift in strategic infrastructure design in the UK. This relationship between old and new creates a modern transport super-hub at King's Cross, whilst revitalising and unveiling one of the great railway monuments of Britain.

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