A triplet of listed gasholders is converted to residential use by Wilkinson Eyre Architects and Jonathan Tuckey Design

Words
Chris Foges
Photos
Peter Landers, James Brittain

Amid the crowd of new buildings that cluster thickly on the former railway lands at London’s King’s Cross, there are some notable examples of change-of-use, from the granary reinvented as an art school by Stanton Williams to coal bunkers currently being revamped as a luxury retail arcade by Heatherwick Studio. Nearby is the latest – and perhaps unlikeliest – adaptation: a high-end apartment building conjured from a ‘Siamese triplet’ of inter-linked, grade II-listed gasholders by Wilkinson Eyre, with interior architecture by Jonathan Tuckey Design. “Repurposing historic buildings is important”, says Chris Wilkinson. “There’s no point preserving them if you’ve got no use for them”.

This reinvention began with a 2002 ideas competition. Reasoning that with diameters of up to 40 metres, it should be possible to put residential blocks inside the frames without touching the ironwork, Wilkinson sketched out a scheme that incorporated all of the major moves now evident: three drums of varying heights sit within the gasholders, with cylindrical atria and concave inner faces that enclose a circular courtyard in the heart of the building, where the web of Victorian cast iron is most dense.

Wilkinson’s sketches also capture the building’s two aesthetic reference points: The first, naturally, is ‘industrial’, expressed in the use of metal cladding and rugged concrete. It is leavened by what Wilkinson calls the ‘watchmaker’s aesthetic’, partly inspired by the dial-like plan forms of the gasholders, and represented by refined details and accent materials such as oak and brass.

Construction began with the removal of the gasholders to specialist restorers in Shipley, Yorkshire. In their absence, the building’s concrete frames were poured. Restored iron components were reassembled around this structure, with columns craned into the central courtyard over the roofs. (The triplet has been reconstructed on a new site, so the building sits over uncontaminated ground).

English Heritage initially assumed that the restored frames would be black with flashes of red and gold, as they had been in the recent past, but Wilkinson Eyre was able to show that they originally had pale, neutral colours. Light grey was chosen, which called for a darker background, says Wilkinson. Likewise, he conceived the perforated aluminium skin with integral shutters to provide a uniform backdrop against which to view the historic structure.

Wilkinson was also keen to avoid the appearance of stacking in the facades, says Jonathan Tuckey, who was appointed to plan and design the flats following another competition in 2013. Units are all wedge-shaped, following the radial logic of the gasholders’ plans, and Tuckey has organised their distribution to create variety in plan and section throughout the scheme.

Among the 145 apartments there are over 20 types, ranging from studios to three-beds, and including single-storey and duplex flats, some with a long staircase against the party wall, others with a box stair in the middle.

From the outside, passers-by catch only fleeting glimpses of the Piranesian interior that Wilkinson Eyre has conjured for the enjoyment of residents. All arrive at a single reception tucked around the back of the north-east block, which narrows towards the central court, where cast iron columns drop into a reflecting pool. A promontory extends into the pool, allowing residents to stand in the centre and gaze up into the tangle of ornate metalwork, or enjoy the way that shafts of sunlight pass between the blocks to cast shadows on the ribbed concrete walls.

The best view, however, is from above – either from two high-level glass and steel access decks that loop around the courtyard, linking the three blocks, or from generous glazed lift lobbies within each building, which look down onto the rippling water. “When you go into an apartment building, it’s very important to have a sense of space, not to feel cramped”, says Wilkinson.

That is also delivered by dramatic, top-lit atria at the heart of each block. Circular decks each have a ‘step’ in plan which shifts at every level, lending a sense of rotation that aids orientation. Warm colours and acoustic absorption in the balustrades create a relaxed ambience.

With apartments arranged around the perimeter like slices of pie, they expand outward towards the light and city views. Tuckey was keen to give each resident a close-up view of the gasholder frames, but has organised the plans to avoid columns in the middle of any vista. Reflective resin floors bring impressions of the cast iron into the interior. Strong shadow patterns from the shutters also play across the floors.

The gasholders’ principal geometries are readily apparent in the curved and splayed walls within each apartment. As a kind of anchor among these angled planes, Tuckey has used the visual weight of bespoke Italian kitchens. “If everything was wonky it could feel quite disorientating”, he says. They are a luxurious take on the industrial aesthetic: precisely engineered, like an engine, made of dark particleboard with steel counters.

The ‘watchmaker’ reference comes though in the oak doorsets with brass ironmongery and wooden wall linings with ingenious integral storage. Bathrooms, too, are intricate assemblies of ceramics, mirror, brass and steel. Tuckey likens these compact spaces to old Pullman trains, “where everything has a place and a purpose”.

Duplex penthouses have a subtly different flavour, with wooden floors, curved sliding screens of perforated aluminium used to subdivide spaces, and stone stairs with metal balustrades that ascend to rooftop gardens.

Other residents have a communal garden on the north-east block, and also share a business centre, party room, gym, a basement spa and car parking. Together with the variety of flat types this made a formidable programme. It was greatly complicated by the constraints of the historic structure, but the two architects’ seamless work is much enriched by its incorporation into every aspect of the project. The gasholders don’t merely decorate the building; they have found a worthwhile new use.

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