Project Description
FROM THE ARCHITECTS:
Gasholder
Park, a tranquil new green space in the heart of King’s Cross, opens today for
the public to enjoy. A circular lawn on the side of the Regent’s Canal, the
park sits inside the carefully restored guide frame of a Grade II Victorian
gasholder, Gasholder No. 8, with a contemporary steel canopy encircling the
edge, in a beautiful juxtaposition of old and new.
Constructed
in the 1850s, Gasholder No. 8 once formed part of the largest gas works in
London, and was a familiar landmark until it was decommissioned in 2000. The fragile
25 metre-high circular guide frame, which has an internal diameter of 40
metres, was painstakingly dismantled from its old location, where Pancras
Square is now, in 2011. It was then refurbished by Shepley Engineers, a
specialist restorer based in Yorkshire, before being reerected in 2013 its new
home, next to schools and apartments in the Plimsoll Building and the triplet
of Gasholders, also apartments, being built beside the Regent’s Canal.
Within
the cast-iron guide frame, London-based practice Bell Phillips Architects has
added a 30 metre-diameter polished stainless steel canopy that forms a continuous
colonnade around a wide grass area overlooking the canal: a unique venue for
events, displays and celebrations, or for relaxation and play.
Alongside
the central area, Dan Pearson Studio has designed new planting around the frame.
The planting offers colour, texture, sensory stimulation and seasonal variation
within and beyond the space. Dan Pearson Studio has also been responsible for
planting schemes across the wider King’s Cross redevelopment area, bringing a
cohesive yet varied approach to the area’s public realm.
Three other
historic gasholders have been similarly dismantled and are being rebuilt next
to Gasholder Park, where they are being re-used as part of an apartment development
designed by Wilkinson Eyre Architects.
Bell
Phillips Architects won a design competition to design Gasholder Park in 2009.
Hari Phillips, partner at Bell Phillips Architects said:
“Gasholder Park is a
fantastic project which combines the industrial heritage of King’s Cross with
contemporary architecture to create a unique place. To design a new use for
such a well-known London landmark was both a daunting responsibility and an
unmissable opportunity. We have hugely enjoyed watching Gasholder Park take
shape, and we hope that it will become a much-loved public space as King’s
Cross continues to emerge as one of London’s most interesting new quarters.”
Anthony
Peter, Project Director at Argent, says, “It’s an unusual and vast space, with a
character best appreciated by standing in the middle of the lawn, looking up at
the gasholder frames. The park is now open all day, every day, to everyone, and
we are looking forward to seeing it used by the primary school children from
the neighbouring King’s Cross Academy. It has been one of the most complex and
challenging projects to deliver at King’s Cross to date, and very satisfying to
see completed.”