Coal Drops Yard

 

It was in 2014 that I first visited The £3 Billion Kings Cross development with Zoe and Hannah, and then again in 2017 when the apartments in the old gas holders were opening. the redevelopment of Coal Drops Yard had then not started so yesterday I took the opportunity to see the finished buildings.

These are the photos I found of the old buildings in the Architectural Journal.

Coal Drops Yard has been transformed into a plush shopping and eating destination a short walk from Kings Cross.

I made my approach from the building that was the old coal office that stands right next to the Regent Canal.

Then with a view over the new complex.

It is definitely an extraordinary transformation. One that, to my mind overpowers the original buildings as the following photos suggest.

But there are still hints of the original brickwork.

And this from the outside.

At the far end is Lewis Cubitt Square where something was being erected or dismantled.

My walk back took me to Granary Square.

And then I sat on the tiered bank of the canal.

Across the bridge in the photo above, is the end of King's Boulevard which is the pedestrianised walk up from Kings Cross / St Pancras. 

And there in the background is the new Google building under construction. Or KGX1 as it is currently described.

The building is described in The Guardian as a 330 metre long "landscraper". At eleven stories high it is longer than the Shard is high, in one continuous construction running the whole length of King's Boulevard. This is what it should look like. 

The other side of the Boulevard is just as it was at my previous visit, all smart high rise buildings. I made my way back to Marylebone. The Chiltern Line trains were quite quiet although it was busier on the Underground. But I don't think I will be going into London again for a while.