Victorian curves: Coal Drops Yard by Heatherwick Studio
Foto: Hufton + Crow
Heatherwick Studio was commissioned by King's Cross Central Limited Partnership to convert two elongated Victorian warehouses, built in the 1850s and originally used for London's coal trade, and suit them for use as a retail centre.
The one-time splendour of the two-storey building complex faded with the decline of coal mining in north England, with the result that the ornate cast iron and brick structures became more and more dilapidated as time passed by. In its design for the Coal Drops Yard project, Heatherwick Studio has extended the warehouses into a flowing whole in which the inner gabled roofs rise up and reach across the central court to meet in the middle.
The roof structure has been interwoven with the historic architectural fabric to create an additional storey and a sheltered space below. The design by Heatherwick Studio is seen as a contribution to the preservation of Victorian industrial buildings in the British capital; Coal Drops Yard is also the architectural firm's first building completion in London. Beyond that, Heatherwick Studio is currently working in collaboration with BIG on the building of Google's new headquarters, another project at King‘s Cross.
The one-time splendour of the two-storey building complex faded with the decline of coal mining in north England, with the result that the ornate cast iron and brick structures became more and more dilapidated as time passed by. In its design for the Coal Drops Yard project, Heatherwick Studio has extended the warehouses into a flowing whole in which the inner gabled roofs rise up and reach across the central court to meet in the middle.
The roof structure has been interwoven with the historic architectural fabric to create an additional storey and a sheltered space below. The design by Heatherwick Studio is seen as a contribution to the preservation of Victorian industrial buildings in the British capital; Coal Drops Yard is also the architectural firm's first building completion in London. Beyond that, Heatherwick Studio is currently working in collaboration with BIG on the building of Google's new headquarters, another project at King‘s Cross.
Further information:
Project Leader: Tamsin Green
Project Team: Jordan Bailiff, Einar Blixhavn, Erich Breuer, Darragh Casey, Jennifer Chen, Dani Rossello Diez, Ben Dudek, Andrew Edwards, Alex Flood, Daniel Haigh, Phil Hall-Patch, Steven Howson, Sonila Kadillari, Michael Kloihofer, Nilufer Kocabas, Ivan Linares Quero, Elli Liverakou, Freddie Lomas, Jose Marquez, Mira Naran, Ian Ng, Hannah Parker, Monika Patel, Luke Plumbley, Jeff Powers, Thomas Randall-Page, Emmanouil Rentopolous, Angel Tenorio, Takashi Tsurumaki, Pablo Zamorano
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