King’s Cross Public Realm Wayfinding
Europe
View Project
Coals Drops Yard, Wayfinding
- Location
- King’s Cross, London, UK
- Client
- Kings Cross Central Limited Partnership
- Services
- Wayfinding
- Sector
- Retail, Mixed Use, Urban Design
Wayfinding in an award-winning London landmark
Coal Drops Yard sits at the heart of the King’s Cross redevelopment, two Grade II listed Victorian coal drops reimagined by Heatherwick Studio as an experience-led retail and leisure destination. Benoy developed the wayfinding system, balancing clarity with the character of the site and its industrial past. A simple yet playful visual language guides and funnels visitors through the mixed-use programme, encouraging exploration while acting as a gateway to the rest of the site – Regent’s Canal, Granary Square and Lewis Cubitt Park beyond.
Dates2018
Size
9,300m2
Navigating a playful mix of programmes
The development houses 55 commercial units across a mix of retail, F&B and event space, bringing together established brands, emerging creative businesses and graduates from the adjacent Central Saint Martins campus. To help visitors navigate these varied elements, the wayfinding system uses named levels rather than alphanumeric codes, clarifying navigation across horizontally and vertically linked ‘streets’ with playful, clean-cut lines.
Material narratives
Crisp brass lettering and elegant totems finished in a subtle palette complement rougher textures found throughout the site, such as open-faced brick, concrete, cobblestone, ironwork, timber and Welsh slate, enriching the site’s material palimpsest.
