One of the final pieces of the King’s Cross puzzle, W Zone occupies 1.1ha of former railway lands of the Kings Cross Opportunity Area within the London Boroughs of Camden and Islington. The development will establish a new residential community centred around high-quality public space, communal amenities and community facilities and will create a special place to live within central London.

The development features two mixed-use residential buildings providing 218 homes across a range of tenures by FCBStudios and David Morley Architects as well as leisure space and a managed ecology garden by Haptic Architects and Jan Kattein.

FCBStudios’ building, W1, is located at the north of the triangular site and comprises connected blocks that step up in scale from 11 to 16 storeys at the northeast corner. The building provides 140 market rental homes that sit above a generous communal amenity floor which spills out onto the central public garden. A lower ground floor provides an active frontage onto York Way.

W1 is articulated with a light base and a solid top, clearly expressing the different functions within the building. Simple rectangular forms express the residential use at upper floors and are clad and detailed in masonry brickwork. Recessed balconies and wintergardens form sculptural elements to create a character and rhythm in response to the orientation and context of each block.