Runner wheel housing, salvaged from construction work at King's Cross station.

Published: 27 September, 2012
by DAN CARRIER

BRIGHT red fire buckets and railway signs, granite stones and railway winding gear are just some of the historic parts of the buildings from the old King’s Cross railway lands area that could be sold off to the highest bidder.

Developers  King’s Cross Central Limited Partnership have drawn up an inventory of salvaged pieces taken from such long-demolished icons as the Stanley Buildings and Victorian railway arches.
They have carefully stored tons of Victorian features for re-use, but much of the vast collection of salvaged materials could now be used around the country in new buildings.

King’s Cross Conservation Area Advisory Committee (CAAC) chairman Ernest James said the site owners, currently working on the 67-acre site that includes 20 restored Grade I-listed buildings, had not given enough notice to interested groups as to what they were going to sell.

He called for the sale – due to begin this month – to be delayed and urged them to consider finding a new temporary store for the parts so architects could investigate what could be re-used on site. Items such as kerb stones or granite sets could be re-used in public areas, he added.

Mr James said: “They should have been more transparent about what they have kept, and there should have been a much greater effort to try and re-use as much as possible on site.
“This is our heritage, and it’s simply being sold off to the highest bidder.”

The parts – ranging from heavy pillars that once used to prop up platforms in St Pancras to rusty ironpipework – have been stored in what was the first King’s Cross train station, to the north of the Railway Lands site. But now the developers are moving towards restoring that section and want to dispose of the pieces saved.

CAAC member Malcolm Tucker added that some of the really exceptional pieces had been earmarked for places in the area – but that with imagination, more could be done.

He said: “The greatest opportunity for re-using these materials was when Granary Square was being built. Some has been incorporated but not as much as we would like.”

He added that as you move further away from the Granary Square area it would become more difficult to recycle parts as much of it is new build and therefore salvaged materials would be out of context.

A spokesman for the King’s Cross Central Limited Partnership said: “King’s Cross has a unique and valuable industrial heritage which is part of the ongoing development’s DNA­.

"These criticisms of our approach to this heritage are borne out of the same narrow perspectives that objected to the planning application for the Granary Complex, a development that has almost universally been lauded for celebrating and embracing the past, while looking to the future.

“We are proud that almost everyone else regards King’s Cross as a model of constructive conservation.
“As part of this, there is a clear process for handling salvaged material, agreed with The London borough of Camden and English Heritage.

"We are following that process assiduously.

“Salvaged items have been carefully catalogued and are being stored securely on site, whilst we receive expressions of interest from other parties.”