Published: 1 November, 2012
by DAN CARRIER

THE historic Stanley Building in King’s Cross will be converted into offices, with a six-storey steel and glass block wrapped around one side.

The Town Hall’s planning committee last week waved through the new plans for the Victorian social housing scheme, which for years has been at the centre of a battle between conservationists and developers over its future.

Once part of two buildings, the other having been demolished, the Stanley Buildings date from 1864 and were flagship housing for workers in the area.

The former homes – the last surviving building of five similar blocks built by the Industrial Dwellings Company – are to be turned fully into office space and have a new building attached to it  along one side.

Developers King’s Cross Central Partnership Limited say their scheme will provide a new lease of life for the Grade II-listed building in Pancras Road. Having been empty since 2001, it was for a time on English Heritage’s “At Risk” register. There was a concerted battle to stop it being demolished completely; its twin, known as the North Stanley Building, was knocked down in 2008.

Now a new block will be put up in its place and linked to the remaining Stanley Building through a glass atrium. Designers say linking the old and new would provide a buffer zone to help keep the Victorian feel of the Stanley and provide space for lifts.

Architects say that without adding to the building, it would be hard to convert it into office space and still respect its heritage inside. The plans show modern, open-plan offices in the new building and the Stanley Building’s smaller rooms will be used as meeting areas.

The scheme also includes a plan to salvage as many original features as possible: windows, fireplaces and floorboards from the now demolished North Stanley Building will be re-used to replace damaged or missing orig­inal features. Balconies with wrought iron railings will be restored and the brickwork of the facade repointed and repaired.

The King’s Cross conservation area advisory committee said the new scheme was a vast improvement on previous designs but had hoped the new building would be placed further away from the Stanley to ensure it stands out in an area that will be full of new office blocks. The committee has also asked for a green wall to include breaks in vegetation to allow brick work to be visible in patches.

The Regents Network conservation group has also criticised some aspects of the designs. The group want plans for pavement lighting to be scrapped, and back the advisory committee’s call for a green wall to be scaled down.

The scheme has long been at the centre of wrangling between people ­living in the area and the owners. Back in 2007, Camden Council was criticised by campaigners for allowing the northern Stanley Building to be sold to Argent for development – and not offering it first to housing associations. The final price-tag, revealed in the New Journal was around £3million, with King’s Cross campaigners saying it was worth twice that figure to the developers. There was also a concerted effort to stop it being knocked down after Argent took control of the King’s Cross Railway Lands, a battle finally won after the Town Hall decided it had to be saved.

The Regents Network conservation group added that it was “generally supportive”, but said the corner of the new office block should be set back further from the Stanley building. The group warned: “The open space created between the sharp glass corner and the Stanley Building is at serious risk of becoming a problem regarding safety and crime issues.”