John McAslan + Partners' Aidan Potter and Jasmine Lewin recently lead a group of geography students from Kelmscott School in East London on a tour of King’s Cross, as part of the student's studies on urban regeneration and our practice’s wider schools outreach programme. 

King's Cross Station is widely regarded as one of the most successful large-scale historic building transformations of recent times, and an anchor-point and catalyst for the much wider 35 ha regeneration scheme to the north. JMP were masterplanners and lead designers for the £550m project to transform the Victorian station and it's surrounds into a modern railway hub and vibrant destination, creating a rejuvenated gateway to London in time for the opening of the 2012 London Olympics. Ten years on the redeveloped station has become the beating heart of this multi-modal transport hub, accommodating 150,000 passengers daily, whilst the wider masterplan knits together the surrounding existing city fabric and new residential and commercial districts to the north to create an animated and lively neighbourhood.  

It was incredibly rewarding to hear the local student’s immediate thoughts on how this scheme made them feel, from safety to spaciousness, and to share JMP's role in one of London’s most important regeneration projects- one that shapes and will continue to shape how these student’s live and travel in their city going forward.