THE COAL OFFICE BAGLEY WALK, KING’S CROSS
It’s the opening of Tom Dixon’s new headquarters and the British designer is showing a gaggle of journalists around. He’s very good at this kind of thing – laid back to the point of being lugubrious yet a hint of the showman is never far from the surface. He evidently enjoys a crowd and possesses a quick, arid-dry wit that the assembled throng laps up. It’s helpful, too, that his new 1625m development, containing offices, retail and a (soon to be opened) restaurant, is rather stunning.
The Coal Office is part of a 25-year development programme in London’s King’s Cross, which has transformed the post-industrial area around the railway station from one of the capital’s seedier spots into a has offices around the corner while Google is planning to move in. However, arguably most important has been the arrival of Central Saint Martins in The Granary Building, designed by Stanton Williams, and the influx of students it has brought. Meanwhile, adjacent to Dixon’s new development, Coal Drops Yard retail centre, designed by Thomas Heatherwick Studio, is taking shape and due to open later in the year.
