Vice versa

stage 2 

 The Gap in the Masterplan: An Engineered Decay

Overview

Nature tries everything and this idea in the master plan of Kings Cross is almost completely forgotten. However, one place – a gap in the master plan stands as a last guard in the harsh and strict environment of clear borders and clear divisions. This place when the time is right will rise and change the whole area, claiming back the importance of nature in this area of London. Today the KX area has been completely taken over by the idea of the masterplan and what follows its borders. It creates bold and strict landscape where no change or alteration is allowed. It seems that it want to fit in a really compact City of London at the same time losing its true identity.

The masterplan is changing and it changes the architecture of the area in a tremendous speed. The project is the reaction against it, it protests and provokes thoughts about the KX area. One of the true remnant of the KX area - the Fish and Coal building would serve as abase for the project.

programme

The main idea focuses on the fact that the King’s Cross Masterplan is squeezing the edges of the nature reserve and canal into ever more defined boundaries and the project is a reaction against that. It is provocative. It is a protest against the Masterplan, as well as against the speed with which the architecture of the Masterplan is realized. The masterplan of the project is to take the Fish & Coal, a remnant for the pre-masterplan, which has been inhabited by self seeded plants and subject to decay, and maintain it in this state and giving some space back to the nature within the King’s Cross master plan. In order to achieve this the project is introducing the nature back into the Fish and Coal, all the programmatic elements in the reserve that have slowly been cluttering up the ground plane in the nature reserve can be released to a new home across the canal - space is given back to the reserve and nature creeps across the canal and into the edges of Granary Square. 

The project proposes to retain the outside walls of the existing Fish & Coal Building and at the same time implement new structural and environmental strategies inside of it. The new structure inside the Fish & Coal is a separate entity from the existing walls but can go through it or overlap it, however the outside walls will not act as structural walls. Environmentally it gives new opportunities for different plants to grow depending on how much light they would need or how much they should be exposed to outside conditions. We need to keep in mind that all plants in the building are self seeded as in ruin, and serve as a factor in controlled decay of the building. Moreover building is designed in a way that it is in general open to the weather conditions and external factors such as sun, rain or wind which can literally penetrate the building. On the picture below we can see a general view of the area with red dot indicating the Fish & Coal building.

space & atmosphere

The project proposes quite an open building, with different voids or openings across it. It develops multiple different routes inside the Fish & Coal skin and every time the visitor can take a different route inside the building. The spaces overlaps and they are not placed only onto one plain. As the routes they overlap and enclose some of the chimneys in the building. The building and activities inside were designed to give a low - tech, in decay but usable feeling of the building. The building and spaces are like ruins but in controlled way, which is safe to use and inhabit. What is also quite important is the fact that it isn’t treated as something valuable as the usual ruin would be. This is the place where people, nature and machines are together. The spaces in fact are nothing like clean, perfect office buildings around Kings Cross. Its have been used and you can easily see the marks. Please note that it isn’t a wasteland - it is a controlled decay of the building.

form & material

The project develops structurally a completely new system of walls, floors and plans regardless of the previous layout of the interior of the Fish & Coal. It proposes that the interior of the old building would be completely cleared out and the outside walls, therefore the skin of the building would be retained. However, the two structures would be retained in a controlled state of decay, therefore additional low – tech support such as steel and timber internal as well as external bracing and external trusses either vertical or horizontal would be added to it. Moreover the basement of the building would be deepened to create a basin for the water and the part of the canal side wall would be opened to allow the water from the canal to go underneath the structure. Please note that there are certain parts of the building where it normally sits on the ground. As it is commonly known the implement weather and other external conditions have a great impact upon the structure of that building. As a result materials such as corten steel plates or corten beams would be used to keep the building in a state of decay, without it being hazardous to its users. The external walls will not act as structural walls but only as a skin to the new structure inside. The new internal structure based around the three ‘chimneys’ and three voids would be more condensed and structurally visible than the previous one. It would be based on a lightweight steel work and a shell around it. The shell of the building is different from the existing F&C walls. In most parts of the building the floors and walls would be made of reinforced concrete attaching the chimneys, however around the voids or parts which are directly exposed to different weather conditions reinforced concrete with corten steel and timber structures would be added. The chimneys itself would act as one of the main structural supports as a wide columns but also it would serves number of environmental functions. The chimneys would be made of reinforced concrete and in most cases would be without any openings in its skin to allow such a weight relay upon them. In the main part of the building large reinforced concrete columns would serve as a support to the workshops above them. What is also quite important to mention that in the workshop area and most of the building is suspended above the water level. Due to opening of the arches from the canal side the project allows water to invade underneath it to create passages for barges, microclimate for the lab and special conditions to the algae lab situated near the tail of the Fish & Coal. However in this part the floors would be attached to the big chimney. Additional steel trusses would be added throughout the floors to increase stability and resistance to compression. The building is quite compact but with number of openings and having water directly underneath it the foundations must be quite deep in the ground. The project creates a sense of a building within a building; however the two structurally different parts are well connected to create a coherent image. The internal structure is designed to overlap and work together in tension as well as in compression.

Change

The scale of the intervention spatially is not very large, however the change it gives is something else. It triggers the change in people perception and thoughts of the masterplan. It gives them a different viewpoint on a current matter and gives them also a new experience in this two - dimensional area of KX. It not only proposes but also gives - a hands on experience and a feeling. It creates the community and brings back together not only Nature Park and Fish and Coal building - it takes the people, the inhabitants of KX and creates the idea of community and not separate entities.