A striking new residential complex in London's Kings Cross district successfully balances contemporary design with historical reverence, offering a sophisticated solution to one of urban architecture's most challenging dilemmas. Cadence, designed by Alison Brooks Architects, stands as a testament to how modern buildings can honor the past while meeting present-day housing needs.
The apartment tower, constructed on the former goods yards directly behind St. Pancras Station, draws its primary inspiration from the area's Victorian railway heritage. The building's distinctive red-brick arches deliberately echo the extravagant neo-Gothic railway terminus of St. Pancras Station, whose original colonnaded railway viaducts once extended across the current site before their demolition in 2007 to make way for continental European train services.
"As an architect, to enable those moments where you look at something contemporary, but it reminds you of something very powerful and memorable from the past that we can identify with – it's honoring that memory, enjoying it, and being optimistic and creative with historic elements," Brooks explained during a building tour. While Cadence clearly references the nearby Victorian station, it employs elongated Bezier arches rather than the station's pointed neo-Gothic ones, creating a contemporary interpretation of classical forms.
The building's innovative brickwork tells a different historical story, drawing inspiration from Brooks's time as an architecture student in Rome. The thin, tile-shaped bricks resemble those found throughout the former Roman Empire's capital, connecting ancient construction techniques with modern methods. "The Romans invented concrete," Brooks noted, "and in Roman construction brick was used as a permanent formwork for concrete backing." This ancient technique mirrors today's practice of using brick as a veneer covering a concrete core.
Despite its artisanal appearance, Cadence employs cutting-edge construction methods designed to reduce environmental impact and address practical constraints. The façade panels were substantially prefabricated off-site, a technique Brooks champions as the future of sustainable construction. "Off-site fabrication is the future of construction, because I think it's our only way to achieve anything close to zero waste," she explained. "A lot of the emissions in construction comes from materials thrown away during the building process."
The prefabrication approach proved particularly valuable given the project's space limitations. "Here we worked with a super-compact building site, so there wasn't really anywhere to store material," Brooks said. "Everything came on a truck and was lifted into place." This method not only reduced waste but also minimized disruption in the densely populated Kings Cross area.
Brooks emphasized that the materials used represent a distinctively British approach to residential construction. "We work with brick primarily, or stone and pre-cast," she noted. "These kind of quality permanent materials are quite rare to see in housing design in North America, where it's considered very expensive and apparently there are no bricklayers left."
The building's design thoughtfully addresses the pressure to maximize sellable floor space while avoiding a monolithic appearance. Rather than creating a single massive structure, Cadence features a saw-toothed silhouette with mini towers of varying heights. These towers are grouped around a palazzo-like inner courtyard, with ample gaps between them partially occupied by roof terraces. This arrangement creates what Brooks describes as a "turreted fortress" effect, though efforts to make the inner courtyard visible from the outside give it the appearance of "a fortress where someone accidentally forgot to pull up the drawbridge."
The complex includes only limited parking in its small garage, reserved specifically for people with disabilities – a decision that reflects both sustainability goals and the practical constraints of the urban site. This approach aligns with broader trends in London toward reducing car dependency in favor of public transportation and active mobility options.
"It's part of my philosophy as an architect that memory is fundamental to creativity," Brooks concluded. "You can't be creative if you have no memory, nothing to reference." This philosophy permeates every aspect of Cadence, from its Roman-inspired bricks to its Victorian railway arches, creating a building that serves as both contemporary housing and a living connection to London's rich architectural heritage.
