Grand Union Canal & Sainsbury’s, Camden
The highlight of the walk between King’s Cross and Regent’s Park, along the Grand Union Canal, is to see this incongruous high-tech housing. It’s a sight that will surprise you after walking by the acres of bland development that are currently emerging as part of the regeneration around King’s Cross.
Why are so few modern developments this imaginative?
Designed by Nicholas Grimshaw & Partners 1986-88, these terraced homes and Sainsbury’s supermarket were Grade II Listed in 2019 (the first supermarket to be awarded such protection).
The houses are located on the former Kentish Town Wharf and include ten three-storey, three-bedroomed dwellings. Aluminium cladding was chosen to reflect the previous industrial setting. The plots are only 10 metres deep, limited by the lorry turning circle in the adjacent loading bay, so the houses are built wide to compensate. The rear of the houses have no windows to reduce noise and pollution (besides, a loading bay isn’t the most romantic view to look out on), while the front uses bus windows and factory loading-bay doors (the latter was perfect for the double-height living room).
Sainsbury’s was built on the former Aerated Bread Company bakery. Grimshaw was appointed after Camden had turned down seven other designs and was largely left to develop the design as he saw fit. The exterior has a visible steel frame. Inside there are no columns, thanks to shallow-curved metal beams. The Guardian named it Building of the Year on opening.
