Social media videos capture construction on hotly-anticipated Heatherwick projects
POSTED 10 Aug 2017 . BY Kim Megson
Heatherwick Studio are creating a mountain-inspired district in Moganshan, Shanghai, called 1000 Trees Credit: Noah Sheldon
Two of the most anticipated leisure projects in the pipeline of British design firm Heatherwick Studio have been showcased through new videos on social media.
The first, filmed by videographer John Sturrock, shows construction advancing on the Coal Yards at King’s Cross in London. Two disused Victorian coal drop buildings at the railway station are being transformed into 100,000sq m (1m sq ft) of culture and leisure space.
The structures, which stand apart, are being repaired and connected by a new upper level stitching their two roofs together – a process which can be followed in the video via a timelapse.
When completed in Q2 2018, 65 interior units will be occupied by art galleries, restaurants, bars and retailers – with a focus on fashion and lifestyle. The surrounding coal yard will be transformed into a large public square.
Commenting on the project last year, Heatherwick Studio founder Thomas Heatherwick said: “These two historic structures were never originally designed for people to circulate through. By themselves they would have never made a successful retail destination if we did nothing more than clean them and fill them with shops, because the distance between them is too great to have any social chemistry.
“For this reason, rather than adding an entirely foreign new structure to connect the old buildings, we chose simply to bend and stitch the two roofs together, forming another level of activity underneath, and framing and weather-protecting a dynamic new public space for the city.
A mountain-inspired district in Shanghai
The second video, featuring drone footage captured in July by architecture collective Do Not Settle, reveals how far progress has advanced on Heatherwick’s mountain-inspired Moganshan project in Shanghai.
The mixed-use development, located next to the city’s arts district, will incorporate a verdant 300,000sq m (3.2 sq ft) complex of buildings, with approximately 1,000 structural columns supporting plants and trees.
“The design has been conceived not as a building but as a piece of topography, taking the form of two tree-covered mountains,” Heatherwick Studio said in a statement when the design was first revealed in December 2015.
The work of Heatherwick has inspired several videos popular on social media; such as this one from April showing construction taking place on the honeycomb-like sculptural landmark he is building in Manhattan, New York for the Hudson Yards development.
Two disused Victorian coal drop buildings at King's Cross railway station are being transformed into 100,000sq m (1m sq ft) of culture and leisure space Credit: Heatherwick Studio
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Social media videos capture construction on hotly-anticipated Heatherwick projects
POSTED 10 Aug 2017 . BY Kim Megson
Heatherwick Studio are creating a mountain-inspired district in Moganshan, Shanghai, called 1000 Trees Credit: Noah Sheldon
Two of the most anticipated leisure projects in the pipeline of British design firm Heatherwick Studio have been showcased through new videos on social media.
The first, filmed by videographer John Sturrock, shows construction advancing on the Coal Yards at King’s Cross in London. Two disused Victorian coal drop buildings at the railway station are being transformed into 100,000sq m (1m sq ft) of culture and leisure space.
The structures, which stand apart, are being repaired and connected by a new upper level stitching their two roofs together – a process which can be followed in the video via a timelapse.
When completed in Q2 2018, 65 interior units will be occupied by art galleries, restaurants, bars and retailers – with a focus on fashion and lifestyle. The surrounding coal yard will be transformed into a large public square.
Commenting on the project last year, Heatherwick Studio founder Thomas Heatherwick said: “These two historic structures were never originally designed for people to circulate through. By themselves they would have never made a successful retail destination if we did nothing more than clean them and fill them with shops, because the distance between them is too great to have any social chemistry.
“For this reason, rather than adding an entirely foreign new structure to connect the old buildings, we chose simply to bend and stitch the two roofs together, forming another level of activity underneath, and framing and weather-protecting a dynamic new public space for the city.
A mountain-inspired district in Shanghai
The second video, featuring drone footage captured in July by architecture collective Do Not Settle, reveals how far progress has advanced on Heatherwick’s mountain-inspired Moganshan project in Shanghai.
The mixed-use development, located next to the city’s arts district, will incorporate a verdant 300,000sq m (3.2 sq ft) complex of buildings, with approximately 1,000 structural columns supporting plants and trees.
“The design has been conceived not as a building but as a piece of topography, taking the form of two tree-covered mountains,” Heatherwick Studio said in a statement when the design was first revealed in December 2015.
The work of Heatherwick has inspired several videos popular on social media; such as this one from April showing construction taking place on the honeycomb-like sculptural landmark he is building in Manhattan, New York for the Hudson Yards development.
Two disused Victorian coal drop buildings at King's Cross railway station are being transformed into 100,000sq m (1m sq ft) of culture and leisure space Credit: Heatherwick Studio
RELATED STORIES
Is Google's leisure-filled £1bn London HQ set for approval? POSTED 07 Aug 2017. BY Kim Megson Google’s proposed £1bn London HQ at King’s Cross, designed by the studios of Bjarke
Ingels and Thomas Heatherwick, has been recommended for approval by the local
council.
Revealed - the shape-shifting facade of Heatherwick and Foster's Shanghai theatre POSTED 27 Jun 2017. BY Kim Megson Berlin-based architecture photographer Laurian Ghinitoiu has captured the first images of
an elegant new Shanghai theatre designed by the studios of Thomas Heatherwick and
Norman Foster with a kinetic moving facade.
London mayor scraps plan for Garden Bridge POSTED 28 Apr 2017. BY Kim Megson The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has formally withdrawn his support for a Thomas
Heatherwick-designed Garden Bridge across the River Thames; bringing a likely end to a
project that has fiercely split opinion.
Numbers from the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions, (ALVA) show that Royal attractions
saw a huge increase in visitor numbers during 2023 – the coronation year of King Charles III.
Off the back of the success of the first round of Everyday Heritage Grants in 2022, Historic
England is funding 56 creative projects that honour the heritage of working-class England.
Universal has revealed it will be adding new Harry Potter attractions, alongside Super Nintendo
and How to Train Your Dragon worlds to its Florida resort.
