Thomas Heatherwick explains his desire to create a new public space for London in this exclusive video interview Dezeen filmed at the recently opened Coal Drops Yard shopping centre in King's Cross.
Designed by Heatherwick Studio, the Coal Drops Yard contains shops arranged in two converted 19th-century coal warehouses, connected by roofs that curve out to touch each other. Between the two linear buildings is a publicly accessible space.
"Coal Drops Yard is a new major public space for London, which is framed by retail, so it's like a new shopping street," Heatherwick says in the video.
Thomas Heatherwick describes Coal Drops Yard as a "new major public space for London". Photo is by Dezeen
Coal Drops Yard is the latest building completed within the King's Cross development. It stands alongside Granary Square between Central St Martins and Wilkinson Eyre's Gasholders apartments. Heatherwick wants the development to be a space the public can visit and enjoy within the development.
"Our job was to make a new public space for London. This area has been transformed over the last 18 years from a place that was closed off and not accessible," he says.
"We hope that this will be a new heart for the district."
The shopping centre is built in two Victorian buildings
Heatherwick Studio connected the two Victorian buildings by extending the form of the roofs towards each other so that they touch above the central space.
"In the ce...