King’s Cross is no longer just a train station on the way somewhere else. Coal Drops Yard hosts a busy Japanese crafts market, listening bars and design shops, and Central St Martins, the arts college next door, brings its creative energy to the area. Now a new residential block, one of the more striking prefabricated homes king’s cross has added recently, sits at the northern edge of Lewis Cubitt Park.
Cadence, designed by London practice Alison Brooks Architects, is finished. Its red brick facade and tall arched windows slow passers-by. Wallpaper* toured the building with the architect, who calls it a courtyard tower.
Brick is doing a lot of work at Cadence, and it is far from the only UK project using it to strong effect. Lion Green Road’s brick architecture wins Stirling Prize shows how the material can carry a major civic building.
Step inside Cadence
Cadence holds 163 homes, among the most ambitious prefabricated homes king’s cross has seen, along with commercial and social spaces, an open courtyard and a gym. The lobby rises high. Towering arches and mirrored walls stretch the space, giving it a cathedral-like scale.
A large glass door frames the courtyard, which is ringed by narrow cloister walkways. At its centre sits a sunken reflection pool, with low sculptural lights suspended above the water. Brooks first wanted the water to rise and fall with the tide, as it does in Venice.
The water now sits still, but the Venetian references remain. Stepped edges descend into the pool like canal steps, and planted pockets recall algae on Venice’s canals.
Brooks used red brick throughout to respond to St Pancras station. She also drew on the arched buildings of Paris and Rome, where she studied for four months in 1985. Her work often blurs the lines between period, place and material.
“We can draw on memory which in turn enriches a pragmatic approach to a place,” Brooks says.
Two towers, mostly prefabricated
The scheme occupies a six-sided block with two towers, one of 12 storeys and one of 16. The lower two floors of both towers hold commercial, social and service spaces. The floors above contain prefabricated homes.
Brooks says the apartments catch sun from morning to afternoon. “Residents love it because they get morning sun, midday sun and afternoon sun. It’s filled with light.”
The Thameslink railway runs through two tunnels beneath the site, and those tunnels shaped the towers. “The structure had to come down on either side of the tunnels,” Brooks says, so the design required isolators and careful structural planning.
Nearly 85 per cent of the buildings are made from prefabricated components. Wallpaper* reports that the project includes what it describes as the world’s first prefab lift system. Alison Brooks Architects worked closely with contractor Laing O’Rourke on the method.
Cadence’s mostly off-site construction has a growing counterpart in temporary and demountable builds. Modular timber pavilions shine at BuildFest 2026 offers a useful comparison of how prefabricated parts can be assembled into striking forms.
“Everything you see in the building has been manufactured off-site: the columns, the beams, the slabs, the lift shafts, the facade panels and the bathroom pods,” Brooks says. “Everything came in and was lifted into place, which made it very clean and practically very little waste.”
Construction moved quickly until a bird’s nest turned up on site. A redstart, a protected species, had built it on top of one of the cores. Work stopped until the eggs hatched, a delay of three months, Brooks says.
Homes at prefabricated homes king’s cross: prices and the mix
Of the 163 prefabricated homes king’s cross residents can choose from, 60 are affordable rentals acquired on behalf of the CBRE UK Affordable Housing Fund. They are offered at discounted market rents, with priority given to individuals and families from the Camden community.
Market-rate one-bed homes were listed or resold at prices from £585,000 to £860,000. Larger residences are listed between £1.9 million and £2.4 million, and penthouses start above £15 million.
The mix feels reflective of Cadence’s blend of styles and ideas: playful and robust, solid yet soft. The mix of brick, arches and off-site parts suggests that prefabrication can still produce a building with a handmade character, as these prefabricated homes king’s cross show. Cadence gives King’s Cross a sharp new neighbour.
Source: wallpaper.com
Frequently asked questions
How many homes are in the Cadence building at King’s Cross?
Cadence holds 163 homes, along with commercial and social spaces, an open courtyard and a gym. Its two towers have 12 and 16 storeys, with the lower two floors of both towers used for commercial, social and service spaces.
How much of the Cadence building is prefabricated?
Nearly 85 per cent of the building is made from prefabricated components. These include the columns, beams, slabs, lift shafts, facade panels and bathroom pods, all manufactured off-site and lifted into place.
Who designed the Cadence building and who was the contractor?
Cadence was designed by London practice Alison Brooks Architects. The architects worked closely with contractor Laing O’Rourke on the off-site construction method.
What are the prices of homes at Cadence in King’s Cross?
Market-rate one-bed homes were listed or resold at prices from £585,000 to £860,000. Larger residences are listed between £1.9 million and £2.4 million, and penthouses start above £15 million.
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