4 Pancras Square

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• 4 Pancras SquareShow Full Screen
• 4 Pancras SquareShow Full Screen
• 4 Pancras SquareShow Full Screen
• 4 Pancras SquareShow Full Screen

This was the first office development to achieve a BREAM 2014 rating of ‘Outstanding’. The judges recognised the strong technical collaboration of the entire team to deliver the architect’s vision of an expressed weathering steel exoskeleton without compromise. The building’s elevations are a celebration of weathering steel! Bolted with Weathering Steel TCBs; a key benefit of using weathering grades is that, even though they will remain exposed, no painting and minimal maintenance will be required throughout the structures design life. A remarkable feature of the steelwork is a Vierendeel truss encircling the first floor, softened by its russet colouring, the patina will continue to develop more texture and character as the building mellows and matures.

Severfield Project Manager Gary Dooley commented “As weathering steel is only produced in plate, all of the columns are bespoke fabricated sections, with hidden internal connections for a clean aesthetic appearance, Erecting the steelwork began with the installation of the storey-high truss, beginning with the 27m-long column-free span along the entrance elevation. The truss was fabricated by Severfield and then brought to site in 18 sections, including four corner pieces. The truss elements measured up to 17m long with the heaviest weighing 72t.”

Bolting with Weathering Steel TCBs resulted in significant time and cost savings in comparison with welding.

The Argent development at King’s Cross is one of the most significant recent developments in London. The site is located to the north of the existing King’s Cross railway station, adjacent to St Pancras International Station on brownfield land formerly used for railway yards and gas containers. The expressed steel as a structure recalls the heroic engineering of the industrial revolution and the railways that enabled the expansion of London.

Architect: Eric Parry Architects
Structural engineers: AKT II and BAM Design
Steelwork contractor: Severfield
Main contractor: BAM Construction
Client: King’s Cross Central Limited Partnership