A new grown-up place to shop: Coal Drops Yard
Photos: Dezeen
The days when London’s King’s Cross was a seedy no-go zone are long gone (though I can still remember the nerve-jangling walk from the Tube station to the Scala nightclub in the late 1980s). After major redevelopment, the area – now home to the British Library, Central Saint Martins and the Eurostar terminal – has evolved into a cosmopolitan shopping destination. Coal Drops Yard is the district’s latest retail development, designed by Heatherwick Studio around former Victorian viaducts built in the 1850s. The two renovated warehouses are joined together by their slate tile roofs and the result is a beautiful space – and what looks like two buildings kissing.
With its sandblasted brick arches, cast ironwork and cobbled forecourt, Coal Drops retains the original elements of the railway yard, and is situated on the Regent’s Canal right next to the Victorian gasworks (now apartment buildings). If bricks and mortar shopping is to compete with online, this well-designed, open space is a move in the right direction. The new retail quarter houses selected fashion and lifestyle brands including: MHL, Ally Capellino, Tracey Neuls, Universal Works, Cheaney, Wolf & Badger, Aesop and Paul Smith – and there are a couple of handpicked high street stores, such as COS. Food and entertainment come from the likes of Barrafina, the Everyman Cinema and Redemption Roasters. As the name suggests, Coal Drops Yard is where coal was delivered (from the north of England by train), stored and distributed from the industrial revolution onwards. Maybe it’s because I’m a northerner but I do love an industrial setting with a sense of history…
I’ve written about Coal Drops Yard and interviewed designer Tracey Neuls for the FT, read the full feature HERE.
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Discussion (15 Comments)
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Lorraine Matthews says:
What was there before, I wonder? Small workshops, studios? Sorry, but all this gentrification annoys me. Could have been better used for affordable housing for workers in London.
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Agree with you about the need for more affordable housing in London, Lorraine, it’s a major issue.
The King’s Cross area was a derelict wasteland when I moved to London in the late 1980s – and what is now Coal Drops Yard was a couple of disused warehouses used for nightclubbing/raves, and so on. Most of the businesses at CDY are small independents and I’m happy to support them.
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Nadia says:
I’ve lived in the area for twenty years and it was a scary place back then. I lost count of the times I was mugged, and I regularly found syringes and glue-sniffing equipment in the grimy playgrounds when I was desperate enough to visit them with my toddlers. The place is now unrecognisable and the developers deserve praise. It’s not perfect (what is?), but is so much better and safer for all residents.
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Emma Renton says:
It was a wasteland – the whole area was a dystopian nightmare. I think overall the new area is wonderful and a great addition to Central London
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Mrs Tonia says:
This urban regeneration project is no doubt a good thing. Having an art school campus there is another positive feature. Looks from your photographs here like a thoughtful architectural project like others from Heatherwick studios. And the shops sound grand too. Coincidentally I just got an email from Design Junction listing all the interesting craft events and tours of workshops taking place between now and Christmas holiday. It might be worth adding that link Alyson to comments so readers can access the most interesting things going on up there. A tour and group activities sounds more fun than wandering around in the dark damp.
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I just read your longer FT article. The Tracey Neuls shoes look great including the pink leopard lace ups with crepe soles you wore earlier this Autumn. Sadly out of my current price range.
The whole question of what replaces a derelict, dangerous area is a complicated one. Naturally in an ideal world there should be housing at all price points and affordable social housing alongside fancy expensive apartments. Without the developers nothing would happen. Since the centre of London has shifted progressively to the Eastern side the Kings Cross area is more central than hitherto. And therefore with the big transport hub of not only Kings Cross rail and tube stations but also Euston and St Pancras and Eurostar terminus there it is even more desirable as a destination ripe for this type of redevelopment. With gentrification comes greater safety and cafes and desirable shops. Each aspect driving the other. I shall go and check it out in daylight with some spending money in my pocket. Not just for the retail but the renewed architecture.-
Agree with you, Mrs Tonia. It is complicated. And yes, it’s worth going to CDY just to have a wander around and look at the architecture – no need to spend money.
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Jo Hislop says:
The area does have social housing alongside the private stuff. Many of the new residential buildings are mixed. I work in the 3 year old Kings Cross Academy, a primary school based at the foot of the Plimsoll Building, which is a stones throw from Coal Drops. Our intake is hugely diverse, really reflecting the area it serves. It’s a fabulous place to work! And shop. And eat. And just wander. Wouldn’t have said that when I arrived at Kings Cross 30 years ago from my northern roots.!
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Jo says:
I thought my love of industrial spaces came from visiting my Dad’s workplace as a child. The winery with high ceilings to accommodate the huge vats, the bottling and labeling machines, the dark spaces and corners for hiding.
Near our home in Sydney, what was the local tramshed has after many years of sitting empty been transformed : restaurants, cafes, bars, fresh food stores, an independent supermarket alongside a medical centre, pharmacy, and small boxing gym with a community hall that has design markets occasionally. I love that it’s heaving with people every weekend for the small fresh food market, providing jobs and giving small businesses a home- so much better that sitting empty and unloved. -
What Jo describes sounds similar to the lively Mercado San Miguel in the centre of old Madrid. Takeaway food stalls plus loads of bars for drinks and tapas. Highly recommended.
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Goddessinthedetails says:
It’s a huge improvement on what was there and personally I’m overjoyed to find somewhere I can linger if I’ve arrived with a long wait until my train goes. Makes a change from hunching on a hard metal bench listening to the tourists do the Harry Potter photos.
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What interesting architecture! We lack that kind of history here in western Canada. In the 1950s this area was still home to nomadic Indian tribes and herds of buffalo!
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I think you are so right about the northern thing. I’d never considered it this way before. So happy about what has happened to Kings Cross area since the scary old days. MHL and Paul Smith opening at CDY! And it is such a complete joy every time to hop on the Eurostar.