Gasholders – King’s Cross

Won through an invited competition in 2013, the studio worked on the interior architecture of 145 apartments and penthouses for Argent in King’s Cross London. The new building, designed by Wilkinson Eyre Architects, places three drums of accommodation within three interconnected, Grade II listed, refurbished cast-iron gasholder frames. Maintaining the studio’s dedication to sustainable construction, the Gasholders development has retained and reimagined much these historic structures, providing breathable, naturally ventilated apartments that speak to the old material of the industrial structures yet bare a new character for domestic use and inhabitation.

With the juxtaposition of the ornate Victorian engineering and the new high-tech insertions as a starting point, we aimed to create an interior architecture that heightened the enjoyment of the unique characteristics of these circular buildings. We sought to articulate the mechanical character of the building, while creating elegant, but grounded, interiors through the use of industrial materials such as resin, steel, brass, fumed timber and precast concrete.