King's Cross Central - 6 Pancras Square

Terracotta is a contemporary interpretation of the Victorian surrounding context.

The curtain walling system is a re-interpretation of the local load bearing masonry with its black anodised aluminium frames and terracotta cladding. This elegant framework creates a rich and dynamic contrast to the other glazed areas.

The simple and tectonic approach of the articulated framework draws on the language of Victorian industrial architecture.

Wilmotte & Associates
Wilmotte & Associates
Born in Soissons (Picardy) in 1948, Jean-Michel Wilmotte studied interior design at the Camondo school of interior design in Paris. Just two years after graduating, he founded his own practice in Paris in 1975. His style influenced a number of personalities including François Mitterrand, who asked him to design part of his private apartments in the Elysée Palace in 1982. Soon after, the mayor of Nimes, Jean Bousquet, commissioned the redevelopment of the city hall and the Museum of Fine Arts. Jean-Michel Wilmotte earned his degree in architecture in 1993, allowing him to work on large scale and to develop the concept of "interior design of cities", while maintaining the same attention to the use of "noble materials and extreme attention to finishes" notable in his smaller scaled works. Over the years, the practice has diversified and now operates primarily in five key areas: architecture, interior design, museology, urbanism and design. The attention to details allows Jean-Michel Wilmotte and his team to work from the smallest to the largest scale: moving from a house to a skyscraper, from a shop to a corporate headquarters, from a gallery of art to a museum, and from street furniture to urban design. At present the practice Wilmotte & Associates has 185 employees. It has now taken a clear international and multicultural dimension, with projects in over twenty countries around the world. The Firm is now established in four locations: one in Paris, one in Sophia-Antipolis, one in London and one in Seoul. In 2005, the Wilmotte Foundation was created to promote the urban graft through the W Prize, with the goal of helping and encouraging young architects. In 2010, according to a study by UK magazine Building Design, the practice is listed in the world ranking of the 100 largest architecture firms.
King's Cross Central - 6 Pancras Square

King's Cross Central - 6 Pancras Square

The attention to detail and the choice of vibrant materials bring texture to this massing, playing with the constantly changing light in London

Project Specs

  • Location: London
  • Completed: 2015
  • Contractor: Vinci Construction
  • Photographer: Charlotte Wood Photography - Edmund Sumner
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Technology

King's Cross Central - 6 Pancras Square

With a length of 100m by 50m in width and a height of about 52m, this building shows a surface of over 15,000 m2 of SSG unitised façades, compact double skin façades, internal atrium space, a huge atrium glazed roof and terraces balustrades.

The typical module is 2000mm or 1000mm x 3850mm, the building features an alternation of low-iron glazing and bespoke fluted yellow terracotta thus creating a dynamic contrast. Impressive glass-to-glass corner units of considerable dimensions, 2400mm x 3850mm, which have been prefabricated in our workshop.
The black anodised finishing of the external horizontal fin features highlights the complex architecture of the project and perfectly integrates this building inside the urban framework of King’s Cross Central Development.

The ground floor and the first floor of West elevation (on side of Saint Pancras Station) consist of compact double skin façade, which has been bespoke designed to comply with the strict thermal and acoustic requirements of the specifications. 
 

Designed by

Wilmotte & Associates Architects

The main characteristic of 6 Pancras Square is the impressing massing that has been sculpted to merge with its context.

As a result, this fine work tackles the challenge of bringing natural daylight into the deepest part of the building, providing very efficient office spaces of great quality and high flexibility.

Here it has been generated a typology of floorplates that is quite unique in London. The dramatic full height atrium is a key space from where visual connections can be made through the building in the three directions. The attention to detail and the choice of vibrant materials bring texture to this massing, playing with the constantly changing light in London. The cladding has been designed as an interweaving of clay and metal. The main element being the terracotta piers with projecting fins up to 34m high.

The unitised cladding system turned clay, a natural traditional material, into a highly sophisticated curtain walling component, which is very unusual for of ce buildings.

Other Façade Systems

Main cladding systems

TYPE T1: Full height structural silicone unitised system with DGU glazing consisting of low-iron HP 70/39 66.2mm laminated external pane, 20mm warm edge black, U = 1.0 W/m2 K low-iron 55.2mm internal laminated pane and external aluminium vertical fins.

T1B: compact double skin consisting of heat strengthened low-iron 66.2mm laminated external glazing and internal DGU with heat strengthened low-iron HP 70/39 10mm external pane, 20mm warm edge black, U = 1.0 W/m2 K low-iron 55.2mm laminated internal pane, inserted into modules which can be opened for the integrated louvres maintenance inside the ventilated cavity.

T1D: glass-to-glass corner structural silicone units consisting of a DGU glazing with external low-iron HP 51/33 66.2mm external laminated pane, 20mm warm edge black, U = 1.1 W/m2 K low-iron 55.2mm internal laminated pane.

T1F: internal atrium curtain walling system consisting of fullheight low-iron heat strengthened 10+10.2mm laminated glazing with black anodised aluminium profiles.

TYPE T2: Unitised glazing bead retained consisting of DGU with with heat strengthened low-iron HP 70/39 10mm external pane, 20mm warm edge black, U = 1.0 W/m2 K low-iron 55.2mm internal laminated pane and bespoke yellow fluted terracotta spandrel units.

T2B: Full height structural silicone unitised system with DGU glazing consisting of low-iron HP 70/39 10mm external laminated pane, 20mm warm edge black, Ug 1.0 W/m2 K low-iron 55.2 mm internal laminated pane and Shadow Box spandrel units with heat strengthened low-iron HP 70/39 10mm external pane, 20mm warm edge black, U = 1.0 W/m2 K low-iron 10mm internal toughened laminated pane.

ATRIA GLAZED ROOF: Stick curtain walling system with large dimension DGU consisting of heat strengthened low-iron HP 70/39 12mm external pane, 20mm warm edge black, U = 1.0 W/m2 K heat strengthened low-iron 66.2mm internal laminated pane. This system is fixed with an external toggle fixing and sealed with black silicone on site, during the installation phase.

GLAZED BALUSTRADES: heat strengthened low-iron 66.2mm with extruded aluminium handrail.

Atrium

The skylight glazing above the internal atrium consist of a toggle stick system with large dimension glass panes (2000mm x 4000mm).
The black silicone glazing joints havebeen carried out on site.

Another important featuring element are the beautiful balustrades of the panoramic terraces, which are built as a continuation of the units from the floors below and which perfectly integrate into the unitised system as a unique architectural feature.