St Pancras Campus - Colorminium

St Pancras Campus, nestled in the heart of the ever-evolving Knowledge Quarter of London, is currently undergoing a remarkable transformation. Situated in a rapidly changing yet well-established hub for employment, social activities, and cultural endeavours, this development aims to rejuvenate an underutilized 1.2-acre industrial estate, resembling an ‘island’ block adjacent to St Pancras Hospital. It comprises a central office building and two separate residential blocks, with a primary focus on attracting science and technology firms.

Client
W.RE

Architect
Caruso St John Architects

Contractor
Bam Construction

Quantity Surveyor
Exigere

The Brief

We’ve worked diligently with the team to uphold the project’s vision, assisting in working up the initial design to a target cost whilst trying to maintain the intent. An intriguing aspect of this development is the common basement which links together the various buildings on the plot, which is serviced by an internal street that runs through the main commercial building Designed by the Stirling Prize winning architects, Caruso St John Architects, the St Pancras Campus has a timeless charm, featuring natural sandstone cladding and precast concrete for the commercial block. Surrounding the block is a lush micro park that forges new connections between Royal College Street, St Pancras Way, and Georgina Street.

Our Approach

With a clear design intent, featuring precast concrete, unique natural sandstone cladding, and glazing, we’ve optimized a unitized façade solution to bring the clients vision to life. The designs reflects the site’s history of industrial use and has sustainability and social value at the heart of the project. Sustainability was vital to the design approach, particularly utilising a high-performance façade together, avoiding gas, with on-site energy generation that feeds an all-electric system. The development is on track to achieve a BREEAM Excellent rating and targeted Net Zero emissions.

Whilst there are some variations to the theme, the design solution we finalised on is a complete unitised wrap of the commercial centre including the stone cladding to the front to ensure weatherproofing and facilitate internal trades. We reduced the quantity of unitised panels by combining two sections of repeating façade into one unitised panel, this therefore limited the amount of components to make the installation speed quicker. Inset red sandstone masonry panels complement the steel structure, adding rhythm, depth, colour, and detail to generate an elegant, abstract classical character. Within the internal street, we assembled the pre-manufactured, oversized panels featuring a distinctive finish. Additionally, the building incorporates elements such as aluminium windows, doors, and various cladding finishes. Our project completion target is the beginning of this year, underscoring our commitment to delivering this transformation swiftly and effectively.

Read about The Brief and Our Approach