Campaigners lose their battle to prevent King's Cross tower

Published: 25th November, 2010
by TOM FOOT

A SKYSCRAPER for students will be built in the heart of King’s Cross after planning officials unanimously approved the controversial development at the Town Hall last night (Wednesday).

The 27-storey building will be the tallest in north London and affect protected views from Primrose Hill and Kenwood. It will be run by developers Urbanest and provide rooms for 650 students from universities in Camden and Kensington and Chelsea.

Malcolm Tucker, from the King’s Cross Conservation Area Advisory Committee (KCCAAC), said: “It is an impertinent tower, ungainly and unduly visible.” And KCCAAC chairman Ernest James: “It’s a great leap forward for property development and three steps back for conservation and design.”

Councillor Paul Convery, planning chief at Islington Council, said the development would cast shadows over the Maiden Lane estate.

But Rob Evans from developers Argent said the site would generate £50million that could be reinvested in the Railway Lands area.

Town Hall chiefs approve 27-storey student accommodation structure in Railways Lands

by DAN CARRIER

A CONSERVATION group last night (Wednesday) lost its fight to preserve views across London from Kenwood, Primrose Hill and Parliament Hill as Town Hall planning chiefs approved a controversial new tower in King’s Cross.

Members of the King’s Cross Conservation Area Advisory Committee (KCCAAC) have been campaigning against a proposal submitted to the Town Hall by student housing developers Urbanest to build the 27-storey structure – which will be home to 650 undergraduates – and had called on councillors to reject the scheme.

The proposals showed a new tower, based at the northern end of the Railway Lands development, that will include bedsits and communal flats, with a small courtyard at ground level, complete with a café and a shop.

The developers say the scheme will provide much-needed new student accommodation on the site and claim that while the tower is larger than outline planning permission allowed, it will act as a “bookend” to the new 67-acre Railway Lands site. 

But KCCAAC chairman Ernest James insists it rides roughshod over legal agreements made in 2006 when developers Argent came up with a masterplan for the site,  which stated no building would rise above 67 metres: the tower would be nearer 100 metres, say the group.

Mr James said: “London is, of course, proud of its skyline views – and this would significantly change it.”

The group believe that residents living on the hills of Highgate and Hampstead will be able to see the new building, and that it will fundamentally alter the look of the city from vantage points across Camden.

“From Kenwood the proposed tower will impinge on the build-up to the towers of the City, without belonging to that group, and so will be an unwelcome intrusion,” said Mr James. 

“From Primrose Hill it will be a prominent feature as the most northerly tower block of central London, and, contrary to the assertions submitted, ugly as well. We find nothing ‘positive’ about the building’s contribution to these views.

“There are no illustrations of how the tower will appear from other distant quarters – from Islington, from the towers of the City or from south of the river, but one may extrapolate. The assertion of an ‘elegant focal point on the skyline’ is not borne out.”

KCCAAC’s written submission to the Town Hall also warned that the designs would mean squeezing too much on to a small area. 

Mr James added: “The building is putting too much accommodation on to an awkward site and the courtyard, vaunted as providing an open space, is cramped.”

The concerns had been echoed by other civic groups. The King’s Cross Development Forum also objected, saying it would set a dangerous precedent for high-rise buildings in the area and that the rooms will be too small for students, many of whom will be studying art and architecture at the soon to be finished Central St Martins university on the site. 

The Maiden Lane Estate Management Board, representing the estate next door to the site, said they fear their estate will be cast in its shadow. A written objection from the group stated: “The tower will cast over our estate during the morning hours of the winter months, blocking sunlight to gardens and accommodation, and it is not acceptable. The tower is an isolated addition to the masterplan and all the work that went into that.”

But the government design quango the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment have praised the scheme and given it their blessing. They said: “We applaud the strength of the idea of this building, which has the potential to be a valued addition to King’s Cross. The argument for developing a building that is taller and different in plan from that consented under the 2006 outline permission is clear and convincing and the logic for situating a taller building at the end of the terrace to mark the northern entrance to King’s Cross is sound.” 

They also praised the facades, while English Heritage also said would not affect any of the historic buildings that have been saved on the Railway Lands site.