{"id":822474,"date":"2026-11-03T05:36:14","date_gmt":"2026-11-03T05:36:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/822474\/"},"modified":"2026-11-03T05:36:14","modified_gmt":"2026-11-03T05:36:14","slug":"arches-create-animated-silhouette-at-kings-cross-apartments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/822474\/","title":{"rendered":"Arches create \u201canimated silhouette\u201d at King\u2019s Cross apartments\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

Two-storey-tall arches frame entrances to Cadence, a mixed-use apartment block in King\u2019s Cross<\/a>, London, which has been completed by local studio Alison Brooks Architects<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Positioned at the northern end of Lewis Cubitt Park, the prominent red-brick building combines 163 apartments alongside commercial and social spaces organised around an open-air courtyard.<\/p>\n

Signposted by its two towers, the building by Alison Brooks Architects<\/a> forms part of the wider King\u2019s Cross redevelopment<\/a> and is complete with views overlooking Heatherwick Studios\u2019 Coal Drops Yard<\/a> to the south.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Cadence<\/p>\n

Drawings and photographs<\/p>\n

Close<\/p>\n

According to studio founder Alison Brooks, the building\u2019s red-brick exterior was chosen to pay homage to the nearby St Pancras Station, while its arched openings draw on the area\u2019s neo-gothic architecture and were conceived as a \u201ccivic welcoming gesture\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe main concept of the project was to make a clear statement of welcome and arrival in King\u2019s Cross, but from the north end of the master plan rather than the south end, which everybody is familiar with,\u201d Brooks told Dezeen.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy first instinct was to respond to King\u2019s Cross\u2019 iconic railway station architecture, sculpting the site massing to create an animated silhouette. A language of two-story high arches creates a really generous, welcoming gesture at street level and toward the park,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

\"Cadence<\/p>\n

The building is formed of a five-sided block, with no designated front or back, which rises to form two towers reaching 12 and 16 storeys respectively.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For its construction, the studio opted for a Design for Manufacture and Assembly approach, which saw 85 per cent of the building\u2019s components prefabricated off-site.<\/p>\n

At the centre of its angular plan, an open-air courtyard, complete with a reflecting pool, has been wrapped by sheltered walkways that provide a shared circulation space between the building\u2019s private and commercial programmes.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a multifaceted building,\u201d Brooks said. \u201cEach facet of the pentagon has a particular identity or address to the space that it\u2019s adjacent to.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis idea of making a very connected space at the base of the building, even though it\u2019s a courtyard, is visually trying to connect all the sides of the plot to the city around it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a place of movement and light and also a kind of special quality because of the reflecting pool,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

\"Cadence<\/p>\n

The building\u2019s first two floors have been dedicated to 633 square metres of commercial and social spaces, which include a \u201ccommunity living room\u201d that opens onto the courtyard at ground level.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A prefabricated lift system connects to the upper floors, where the 163 residential units benefit from both courtyard and street views.\u00a0<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"22<\/p>\n

\n Read:\n <\/p>\n

Coffey Architects recalls industrial \u201cfound spaces\u201d for King\u2019s Cross office block<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

A combination of rectangular and arched windows draws daylight into the building\u2019s white-walled interior, complemented by private balconies and communal roof terraces.<\/p>\n

Other projects developed as part of the King\u2019s Cross regeneration include Google\u2019s landscraper office building by architecture studios BIG and Heatherwick<\/a> and an office block designed by Coffey Architects to recall the area\u2019s industrial spaces<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Project credits:<\/p>\n

Architect: Alison Brooks Architects
Client: King\u2019s Cross Central Limited Partnership
Landscape: Todd Longstaffe-Gowan \/ Bradley-Hole Schoenaich Landscape
Interior design: Conran & Partners
Structure: Ramboll UK
Services: Hoare Lea
Cost: Faithful + Gould
Lighting: Speirs + Major<\/p>\n

Share<\/p>\n

\n Photography by
\n Paul Riddle
\n <\/a>\n <\/p>\n

Read more<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Two-storey-tall arches frame entrances to Cadence, a mixed-use apartment block in King\u2019s Cross, London, which has been completed…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":822475,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[215837,6225,6485,6486,43353,1120,96,4658,101417,388,38778,11127,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-822474","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-alison-brooks","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-bricks","tag-design","tag-entertainment","tag-housing","tag-kings-cross","tag-london","tag-mixed-use","tag-residential-architecture-and-interiors","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/822474","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=822474"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/822474\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/822475"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=822474"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=822474"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=822474"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}