King’s Cross Central and Brent Cross are Winners

“Rapid change is now afoot at King’s Cross …last year saw the ...opening of the stunning new St Pancras International terminus alongside a new and dramatically improved Thameslink station. The scale of the proposals .. is huge, with fifty new buildings, twenty new squares and twenty new streets, all designed to unify an area that has been disjointed for one hundred and fifty years by the mass of railway lines, yards and warehouses. I very much look forward to [its] continued transformation, and to its becoming a vibrant and thriving destination .. for generations to come.”

“I am particularly impressed to see the increased prominence of design features [in the Brent Cross Cricklewood scheme] that address the challenges of climate change. Buildings are one of the main consumers of energy, and it is absolutely essential that the planning system is used to achieve major emissions reductions.”

King's Cross Central

RPS was responsible for the EIA, the coordination of the submission of the planning applications and the provision of strategic planning advice for the King’s Cross Central scheme. In particular, RPS has led the negotiation of the affordable housing part of the scheme from the start, and are now working with the developer to deliver the first phase of affordable housing.

The scheme is to transform 27ha of brownfield land between King’s Cross and St Pancras stations -an area commonly held to have the capital’s best transport accessibility; providing over 740,000m² of mixed-use development, including more than 1, 700 new homes, provision for 25, 000 new jobs alongside significant improvements to the public realm, and the refurbishment of twenty existing historic buildings.

Winner of the Best Conceptual Project award was Brent Cross, Cricklewood: a 250 acre development in North London, comprising a twenty-seven year regeneration scheme to provide 1, 5000, 000 m² of mixed-use floor space, incorporating 7, 500 new homes, and creating 27, 000 new jobs. A new and transformed shopping centre will be created with substantial commercial provision and stunning public open spaces including a re-profiled Clitterhouse Playing Fields.


Brent Cross, Cricklewood

The scheme promises to provide the largest investment in transport infrastructure and community facilities that the area has ever had, featuring three schools, two health centres, a leisure centre, and a library and community centre. Significant improvements to pedestrian links, cycle routes, and road junctions with a new bus station and train station on the Midland Mainline will ensure ease of accessibility both to and within the area.

It is the first UK scheme that will combine automated waste collection through an underground pipe system that will feed a new waste handling and recycling facility, producing fuel for a CHP1 plant on site, and making the project a groundbreaking step in environmental sustainability for London.

RPS is also a sponsor for the RTPI 2007 Planning Awards for Town Regeneration.