King's Cross, Urban Pioneers

Friday was very exciting - meeting the 'guy' who spent years of planning and developing Kings Cross Station. Alastair Lansley with the accompany of Ian Gardner, an ARUP Engineer, presented a 'short' presentation about the Kings Cross station. His passion and enthusiasm seeping through every spoken word, made me enthusiastic about the subject too, as well as his kind and humorous personality being made evident as the presentation went along. Knowing the history of the Kings Cross area was imperitive to me, because in comparison to other stations that were mentioned, such as Waterloo, Paddington and Euston, Kings Cross is the most vast and extraordinary Station in its volume.  Kings Cross, back in the 1860's, was a developing area, most known for Trade, so the Station had to be spacious, to make way for the goods being imported and also distribute them all over the country in the fastest most efficient way possible and so having to constantly decide on consolidating on certain features to keep the old and to incorporate the new, was shown to be very hard, but having its history and that knowledge in mind Alastair said, "In order to mix the two, you have to seperate them, and that's what we did...". Another thing that was interesting to know, was that everything that is built is Grade Listed, and so Kings Cross Station is Grade 1 Listed, which means nothing can change it, and it cannot be knocked-down without top authorisation. Sadly, my favourite station , Waterloo, is only Grade 2 listed *sniff sniff - tear* - Although Alastair did say it could have been Grade 1 listed *wink & a smile*. After hearing about 'how the roof of the building is like no other...' he gave us a personal tour, so we could see everything for ourselves, and the one thing that i especially noticed was that, eventhough the Station in huge and can be overwhelming, Alastair knew everything about it and was able to tell us all he could. I think this was essential to the project in understanding Architecture and Stations, it was fun to be around him and to know what he does.

Friday was great; it was my first time meeting everyone at the German Gymnasium. I had a chance to look around and observe models of building yet to be finished in the area, which really helped to give you a feel for the atmosphere of Kings Cross. We had a chance to learn about the processes of redeveloping the area before meeting Alastair Lansley, the head Architect behind the redevelopment of St. Pancras and Ian Gardner the Engineer.

 
Alastair was the first to present to the Urban Pioneers and I just loved his enthusiasm for the railway system. It was contagious. He really captured the groups’ attention and I think everyone was interested in everything he had to say. We learn about his career and more specifically his involvement in St. Pancras. How it was built 6 meters above street level and how it was the first station to use a stylised lighting system. Ian gave us an insight into the building’s complex structure, where he told us of their struggle convincing English Heritage to support their idea to remove the St. Pancras’s ceiling panels and replacing it with glass. They also gave use an insight into the stations multiple uses, as The Undercroft was originally used to house Burton’s beer, now the retail area replaces it. We learnt so much and had the opportunity to throw questions to these experts, having them answered with honest and great humour.

On Friday 12 February, the Urban Pioneers met Alastair Lansley, the architect in charge of the regeneration of St Pancras Station, and Arup's Ian Gardner.