Placetest: King’s Cross

Central Saint Martins

Central Saint Martins is located at the top of Granary Square and has two main entrances: one in the square and one directly across from Waitrose. Large numbers of the college’s students express themselves outwardly through their clothes, hair, tattoos and piercings.

Many say they are used to having their pictures taken without permission (“It comes with the territory”), but the site contributes to their feeling that they are “in a fishbowl”. Many therefore avoid the square altogether, preferring the eastern or smaller northern route offsite.

The design of the college further enhances this idea of public performance: the studios along the eastern edge of the building have large windows, which means passers-by can watch the students working.

“Working-class locals visit the site to use Waitrose, attend free outdoor events, or for a day out with their families; however, these numbers drop off in cooler months”

Portrait: Rubie Green, student artist

Rubie has one of the studios with large windows facing Waitrose and feels they put the students’ artistry on display.

“We call this place ‘the fishbowl’ – the art student aquarium,” she says. “The school uses the windows as a living advert. Sometimes we glare back.”

She used to use the grass outside Waitrose on a nice day, less so now there are so many office workers there. “It’s great that they’ve kept Camley Street Nature Park [a park to the south-west of the square],” she adds.

We spoke about the psychological distance to neighbouring communities: “Walking to Caledonian Road [a station to the north-east of the development], you see how stark the differences are… There are opportunities to cross over – you don’t have to walk far to see Maiden Lane or Somers Town.”

She believes that by “being in the worst of gentrification”, the students are not sheltered from it and their art becomes a response to the commerce around them: “Either go with it or rail against it – comment on it.” Her “silver lining” is that studying art in such close proximity to so much commerce and so many companies can unite the art students in a common fight against the corporate world.

When speaking to residents in the surrounding communities, we often heard stories about how they don’t feel welcome because they “don’t wear the right things”

Portrait: residents in offsite communities

When speaking to residents in the surrounding communities, we often heard stories about how they don’t feel welcome because they “don’t wear the right things”; the shops and restaurants are too expensive and not places they would think to go to. Some people went as far as to say they felt watched and actively excluded:

“They give discounts and free tickets to the people who live in the new flats but never to our communities. It’s mean”;

“There is no obvious signage that says where the toilets are. Do I have to buy something?”;

“The security guards stare at us. They don’t expect to see us here”;

“It’s one thing to go and sit outside in the summer but what about when it’s cold outside? Where can I go inside where I don’t have to spend a fortune? They’ll let us be outside, but not inside because that’s expensive.”

Some people welcomed the perceived safety of the site, even if they were unaware of the security presence and CCTV; others noticed the security acutely.

The seasonality of a place is particularly relevant when thinking about how a community is formed and sustains itself over time. Free outdoor events and activities are available in King’s Cross Central, but there are not the same kinds of free or affordable activities indoors.

Pancras Square, which lies between Granary Square and the two stations, houses Camden Borough Council’s offices, a public library, leisure centre and swimming pool, but there are almost no signs and people on-site seem largely unaware of these public facilities.

The shops on the development are established mid to high-end chains (for example, Caravan and Waitrose) and mid to high-end restaurants and boutiques (such as The Lighterman and Spiritland). The food trucks that come to the development may borrow conceptually from the tradition of cheap street food but they offer lunch at a treat price – a survey of what was available found the average price of a box of food was £8. The lack of cheaper options for eating, socialising and shopping effectively excludes many of the local citizens from the development. It precludes shops, cafes and bars from becoming community hubs where most local residents feel welcome and they can develop relationships with the staff or owners.

The exception to this is the Word on the Water book-barge, which has floated along Regent’s Canal for years but has taken up permanent residence by Granary Square. There are regular jazz performances and it is an independent business run by friendly people whom many in the area know by their first names. It is undoubtedly one of the area’s highlights – as evidenced by the number of people taking pictures of it.

Those who come from the existing community to the development often do so because someone from the local community has shown them around and made them feel like there are things for them there, too.

Portrait: Lesley, local resident

Lesley lives in a neighbouring community and walks through the development to get to her gym (Pancras Square Leisure), shops at Waitrose and gets her coffee. She considers the development “her space”; even though it’s private land, she uses it as a public space and feels confident in it, saying: “We have to take up as much space as possible.”

Lesley likes many things about Granary Square: the Skip Garden community garden and kitchen, where she learns how to cook, grows herbs and buys cheap vegetables; the steps to the canal; and the free outdoor space. She feels working-class people do make use of the fountains, tennis and football facilities and events. She brings friends to the area and shows them there are free events: “They do a good job having things for the community… for now. This is two Labour councils, side by side. Right now, things are good. What could happen if Camden went Tory? This could all change.”

She especially values the site for being safe, clean and – in theory – a place for everyone. However, she doesn’t know if all spaces are public and gets the sense that some places aren’t as inviting as others: “Are the playgrounds for everyone? You could imagine someone asking you where you live.”

Lesley represents a best-case scenario for a local resident – she makes herself feel comfortable in whatever spaces are available to her and encourages other people to feel the same by bringing them along.

Lesley represents a best-case scenario for a local resident – she makes herself feel comfortable in whatever spaces are available to her and encourages other people to feel the same by bringing them along

Pay and display

Almost all products, services and experiences available at King’s Cross Central are treats, and treats, by definition, are out of the ordinary and only happen occasionally.

The sense of performance that goes hand in hand with creating a treat space has resulted in an atmosphere that can exclude people who feel they can’t afford to be there. However, there are many ways to ‘pay’:

Social capital: “Have I gained entry and acceptance through who I know or where I work?” Who has it: white-collar workers and those working in creative and technical jobs.

Cultural capital: “Am I worth taking a picture of? Will this look good on Instagram?” Who has it: kids playing in the fountains, art students doing photoshoots, and people taking selfies.

Financial capital: “Do I have enough money to buy things here? Do I look like I have enough money to browse here?” Who has it: those browsing in high-end shops such as Margaret Howell and Tom Dixon.

On the one hand, Argent has populated the place: the development is busy, active and filled with people eating, studying, working and shopping. On the other hand, the lack of provision for everyday life means people don’t go to the site for routine things or they have to go offsite.

This causes frustration for those who are on-site every day for work or study, or those in neighbouring communities who would visit the site more often and feel more welcome if their everyday needs could be met there.

Point five: the interaction between the square and its surroundings

The fifth feature of Whyte’s list for building successful small urban spaces is to consider how people access the site. The edges between the existing communities and King’s Cross Central reveal and affect the degree to which the development is permeable. Do they allow everyone to have easy in-routes? Have they considered everyone’s needs?

Signs and maps are important features that help to make sense of public space. Crucially, they can soften the edges between very different places and encourage permeability. Currently, the signs on the site reinforce the exclusive, inward-looking nature of the development.

There are signs and maps on the development’s perimeter hoardings, which guide people into the development and help them to navigate their way around the site. But there is little on-site that leads out into the neighbouring communities – for example, towards transport links such as Caledonian Road & Barnsbury Overground Station. There are no signs directing people to public toilets, only small icons on the site maps.

The children’s and adults’ libraries are not included on maps on the site – Pancras Square Library is not listed under ‘academic’, ‘arts and culture’ or ‘services’. The building that contains the library is listed as ‘Pancras Square Leisure’, but it is unclear that it is a public facility that also contains a swimming pool.

Furthermore, there is no sign on Pancras Square Leisure indicating that a library or swimming pool is inside. This same building contains Camden Council’s offices and the word ‘Camden’ is in large letters on the facade; however, Camden Council is not included on site maps.

Placing community members’ names and contributions on the gate infuses Edward Square with human presence. By contrast, visitors must reach the middle of Granary Square before they feel they have arrived at the destination, so the community naturally turns inward as a result

Portrait: Edward Square, Caledonian Road

Edward Square is just off Copenhagen Street, which is a five-minute walk from King’s Cross Central towards Caledonian Road.

Redevelopment of the square was led by community champion Lisa Pontecorvo, who died in 2008. Her obituary in The Guardian stated: “Perhaps her outstanding achievement was Edward Square, a derelict patch of ground that had been one of the earliest garden squares. Today, it is a place of celebration and recreation, with a poem by Andrew Motion [poet laureate] carved into the stone edging.”

The mural on the wall in the orchard area of The Mitre pub was painted by Dave Bangs in 1984, to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Tolpuddle Martyrs’ demonstration in Copenhagen Fields and used local people as models.

Of particular note is that the entrance of Edward Square is clearly marked with the personal contributions of people who worked to make the redevelopment of the square possible:

‘The design of this public park has been developed through consultation with the local community’;

‘The artwork in the gates was produced by the children of Copenhagen and The Blessed Sacrament Primary Schools’;

‘Park opened 2000. Please look after it’;

‘The artist for the wall panel was Kate Blee.’

Placing community members’ names and contributions on the gate infuses Edward Square with human presence. By contrast, visitors must reach the middle of Granary Square before they feel they have arrived at the destination, so the community naturally turns inward as a result.

This means the development does not benefit organically from the already established local culture and must work extra hard to form connections.

Richard Sennett writes that placing community resources on the edges of a development makes it possible “to open the gates between different racial and economic communities” and lets neighbours mix casually: “Casual physical mixing is much less confrontational, as in a rich lady and her maid happening to be in the same place buying milk or booze late at night… engaging them in a common everyday task. This sort of edge experience is, in terms of the distinction drawn in our discussion of social differences in the city, inclusive rather than integrative.”

There is a small park called York Way Gardens between the shops and York Way, but the shop owners consider it to be derelict public space, where people drink and hang out. It is uncared for, bins are rarely emptied and the gallery’s owner has to clean it herself

Portrait: independent shops on York Way

There is a string of shops on York Way, just north of Kings Place and The Guardian’s offices, that serves as a gateway into the Copenhagen Street and Bemerton communities. From north to south along this strip, the shops are: Sid Motion Gallery (a tenant for three years), and long-established tenants London Kebab, Super Laundry, G Express Food Store and Cafe Express. One shop owner commented about the development and its potential: “We’ve watched this happening for 15 years... We’ve been hopeful.”

However, a large, continuous, eight-storey block east of Granary Square opposite the shops has shut out light and sightlines into the development at the ground level. One shop owner said: “There are no open parks or spaces facing this way… you can’t see what’s inside,” while another recalls: “I used to be able to see all the way across, but all the light is gone now.”

The pavements, road and small park in front of the shops is largely untouched and neglected, with large potholes on the road in front of the shops, which is allegedly used as a ‘rat run’ to avoid the traffic lights at the entrance to Copenhagen Street. This compares poorly with the new block of flats and retail spaces on the opposite side of the road. There is a small park called York Way Gardens between the shops and York Way, but the shop owners consider it to be derelict public space, where people drink and hang out. It is uncared for, bins are rarely emptied and the gallery’s owner has to clean it herself.

These edge conditions highlight two distinct levels of care: the maintained, clean, safe, watched and manicured site of King’s Cross Development and the neglected side of the local residents.

“It’s one thing to go and sit outside in the summer but what about when it’s cold outside? Where can I go inside where I don’t have to spend a fortune? They’ll let us be outside, but not inside because that’s expensive”

Portrait: Yunus, owner of London Kebab

When we asked Yunus about the development, he immediately described feeling isolated, neglected, left behind and ghettoised. Aside from letters announcing the work, no one from Argent or Islington Council has been in touch or asked him about the development. His comments included:

“We’re being left behind”;

“No one is taking care of this place”;

“We’re being deliberately isolated”;

“They’ve created an inside world.”

He says he would invest in his business, but Islington Council is not taking care of the space outside or York Way Gardens: “I want to make it nice, but I can’t do the pavement. What’s the council doing about this?”

People used to be able to pull up to the shops, but parking outside the shops is now for residents or ‘pay and display’. He says people living in the ‘car-free’ block opposite the shops park their cars in front of the shops, but do not use them. “No one walks by here. It’s all cars and trucks, and no one is stopping,” he says.

It used to be busy, he continues, with builders coming by from the development. But now it’s very quiet, he says. “Nobody knows we’re here… and look at the place outside – it’s a mess. That’s not going to invite anyone in.”

Portrait: Sid Motion Gallery

The owner of this gallery started renting the former William Hill betting shop from Yunus three years ago. She gutted it, painted it white and turned it into a gallery. She wanted it to be on York Way, rather than somewhere such as Mayfair, because she feels it’s a more friendly, honest and accessible way of running a gallery. She invited the local community into the gallery and remembers meeting people from the community for the first time, including “some people [who] are still engaged and come to the openings”.

The gallery brings a different client base to this stretch of shops – people come to the gallery because they know it’s there; no one is casually stopping by. “I’ve brought a different type of person... someone who’s never been this far up York Way,” she says.

The owner feels she gains from the gallery’s location on the edge of an established community and its proximity to the King’s Cross community. In contrast, the kebab shop owner feels the opposite – he has not gained from the development and feels neglected, left out and angry.

Place and time

One of the most useful things planners and local councils can do is create places where different people can come together, to potentially increase physical interaction (side-by-side browsing or in a queue) and enable people to focus on commonalities, rather than differences.

These pen portraits of two small business owners highlight that locating shops between communities can serve the interests of different groups of people, due to location or need. These shops could be valuable assets for interaction between the existing and the new King’s Cross communities.

However, owners of small businesses expect to be met halfway by local councils and to some extent be considered extensions of developments, so they can benefit from the renewal. This contributes to a greater sense of place for all people.

Finally, it’s important to understand the timescale of a development as large and complex as this. King’s Cross Central has been a work-in-progress for 17 years and throughout this time, Argent has worked with local communities to preserve some of the history of the area through the King’s Cross Voices online sound archive and by naming new roads after previous landmarks, such as Bagleys Lane. It also has ongoing consultations with community members and has set up temporary community activities such as Skip Garden, a swimming pond, a sports pitch, outdoor films and sporting events.

Portrait: Stephen, community organiser

Stephen has been an area community organiser since the beginning of the development. Like Lesley, Stephen likes to “take up space” and make himself comfortable anywhere he wants. He’s confident and articulate about the issues his community faces.

As soon as we begin to talk about the development, he says no local residents were invited to the opening of Coal Drops Yard. A colleague went to visit the new shops, came back and told Stephen: “They didn’t expect to see me there.” Some of the teenagers Stephen works with who have visited the site have also noted this invisible barrier: “We just get stared at by the security guards.”

Crucially, Stephen has worked with Argent in his role as a youth organiser since the earliest stages of the development. He understands how to build a community and knows that trust must be built over time through small, continuous steps. He had a close working relationship with senior leaders at Argent and recalls their efforts to develop links to local residents. But there are now fewer and fewer signs of effective outreach, and trust from the local community is low.

In the early planning phases, Argent held consultation meetings with the local residents. A small group of dedicated community leaders fought for certain things that were important to include. However, largely these were not granted. For example, the Maiden Lane Estate did not get a bridge over the train tracks to access the development, so residents still have to walk around the edge to get in.

There was a football pitch on the site that was popular with local residents, but that land has now been turned into flats. There is the indoor Handyside Sports Pitch, but Stephen says booking it is restrictive – slots only last an hour – which is not good for the local community.

“Locating shops between communities can serve the interests of different groups of people, due to location or need. These shops could be valuable assets for interaction between the existing and the new King’s Cross communities”

During the consultation period, Argent was asked whether skateboarding would be allowed and whether the seating and fixtures would be made of robust materials. Stephen says the company said: “Oh yes, of course.” But while skateboarding is allowed, skaters are not allowed to do jumps, only ride flat.

Community groups have tried to showcase local talent and initiatives outside Waitrose, but have been prevented. “You just get 20 reasons why it can’t happen, health-and-safety excuses, when really, you know they don’t want people from the estates. They’re worried about who comes in.”

Gang culture in the surrounding areas shows the need to engage youth and the real presence of danger – a 19-year-old was stabbed near Waitrose in September 2018, with detectives investigating the possibility that the attack was part of an ongoing dispute between the ‘Cally Road’ gang and the ‘Easy Cash’ (EC1) gang, according to local newspaper the Camden New Journal.

Stephen suggested possible steps to include local communities more. Businesses on-site and in the surrounding communities could donate resources to local residents and charities to raise the bar for everyone.

“Each office block should have a floor they donate to charity – that would drive people onto the development and benefit the local community dramatically,” says Stephen. Restaurants could offer free meals or discounts: “I had a bunch of vouchers put through the door from Dishoom… they can do more of this.”

Businesses could employ more local people, too. For example, Ted Baker, which has offices in Somers Town to the west of St Pancras, has hired an ex-teacher to be a community link and help local charities, while Havas advertising agency has hired an inclusion and diversity manager and a local young person is interning to make films.

Stephen’s final suggestion is to create more ‘level playing fields’ where different groups use or share the same space. “It’s like a football pitch – it doesn’t matter where you’re from, you follow the rules and you play together.”

“A small group of dedicated community leaders fought for certain things that were important to include. However, largely these were not granted. For example, the Maiden Lane Estate did not get a bridge over the train tracks to access the development”

Can a treat space include the everyday?

The mix of relatively high-end retail chains, residences, schools and offices has created both treat and everyday spaces in King’s Cross Central, but without provision for everyday needs. The lack of everyday goods and services, more affordable price points in the retail mix, and true co-production with the local residents is causing many to feel that this is not a place designed for them.

Security measures make some people feel at ease and comfortable on-site, and often go by unnoticed. But they exclude certain groups of people, often from the surrounding communities, without cause, sometimes through subtle means, such as staring. Security cameras and guards can make others apprehensive and uncomfortable. The arbitrary rules that govern the place, such as skateboarding being permitted but not tricks, are not displayed or self-evident, which contributes to some people’s sense of unease.

Whyte describes this classic tension and offers suggestions that go beyond cameras and security towards reconciling the differences: “Electronics can’t beat a human being and it is characteristic of well-used places to have a ‘mayor’. He may be a building guard, a newsstand operator, or a food vendor. Watch him and you’ll notice people checking in during the day – a cop, bus dispatcher, various street professionals, and office workers and shoppers who pause briefly for a salutation or a bit of banter. Plaza mayors are great communication centres, and very quick to spot any departure from normal. Like us…

“Ordinarily, guards are not supposed to initiate conversations, but Joe Hardy is gregarious, curious and has a nice sense of situations. There are, say, two older people looking confused. He will not wait for them to come up and ask for directions. He will go up to them and ask whether he can help… Joe is tolerant of winos and odd people, as long as they don’t bother anyone. He is very quick to spot real trouble, however. Teenage groups are a challenge. They like to test everybody – with the volume knob of their portable radios as a weapon. Joe’s tactic is to go up to the toughest looking person in the group and ask his help in keeping things cool.”

It would be valuable to think afresh about who the security is for in King’s Cross Central and who is being served by it. Security guards are the face and voice of the development to an extent, and add value by being a friendly, welcoming presence whom users could potentially get to know.

Crucially, people expect some element of the unexpected in public spaces. Open-ended activities – such as skateboarding, ball games, the right to protest, non-selective and affordable market stalls, and graffiti – that are by their nature unpredictable and often spontaneous contribute to a place feeling truly vibrant and dynamic, rather than simply manufactured to look that way.

Lastly, it is important to consider how seasons affect usage, especially in an everyday context. The site is heavily geared towards the warmer months, with the fountains and steps by the canal playing an important role as a destination for a wide variety of users, including those from surrounding communities. The library and leisure facilities in Pancras Square are hidden gems that would benefit from signs and communications to encourage usage.

Caring for the other side of the edge creates a greater sense of permeability between developments and surrounding communities. It need not be designed in the same way, but it should not be neglected space either – clean, safe and cared for is enough

Can a place be inward-facing and take care around the edges?

If the development and design of public places are to include the surrounding communities, there are several things to consider. Placing a square in the centre of a development suggests arriving at ‘the place’ means leaving the surrounding community. Placing a town square at the edge of a site prevents the development from being inward-looking. Future developments could therefore consider placing town squares at the edges of sites, much in the way town halls are often situated on high streets.

Large open squares can feel uncomfortable, however, especially those with a panopticon effect, so there is a role for smaller-scale spaces that are more comfortable to dwell in. For example, the dwell time in the alleyways of Coal Drops Yard appears to be greater than in its wider main avenue.

There is a role for good, community-oriented design that extends and welcomes existing communities’ access to the site. Their way into a site could be considered when a development is planned. Maps, signs, marketing and leafleting could extend into their areas and point both ways. Signs and maps could provide continuity between the development and neighbouring communities, creating a ‘two-way flow’ in and out of the development. Leaflets or booklets detailing on-site event programmes could be placed in community centres, local cafes, shops and online where local residents would see them. In the case of King’s Cross Central, the library and leisure facilities could be promoted on-site as free and affordable facilities for the wider community, and the library could be promoted on signs around the site and beyond, but particularly to families in Granary Square.

Designs can acknowledge sight lines from existing spaces, including those at ground level and the light from the sky. Cut-throughs in buildings could be considered to create pathways into sites, to boost footfall from existing neighbourhoods.

Everyday, independent shops can assist interactions across the edges of developments. Along with caring for the existing spaces, more of this type of retail could be incorporated into developments’ edges. For example, York Way’s shops could be considered extensions of King’s Cross Central and included in the mix of retail available for on-site and offsite communities, as could Skip Garden’s selling of affordable vegetables. There could also be more canal boats with entertainment and activities, selling affordable, everyday goods across the York Way divide – perhaps even a ‘fruit and veg boat’ run by Skip Garden.

Caring for the other side of the edge creates a greater sense of permeability between developments and surrounding communities. It need not be designed in the same way, but it should not be neglected space either – clean, safe and cared for is enough.

Finally, the provision of activities on-site that local residents enjoy might be at odds with what other groups like, but is an important indication that a place is ‘for everyone’ and helps all groups understand that they are welcome and included.

Nitasha Kapoor is an anthropologist and social researcher

John Sturrock is a photographer who has been capturing the evolution of King’s Cross. All photographs are by Sturrock except where noted