The interior of the construction site at the Midland Goods Shed, in King’s Cross. Photograph: John Sturrock

Our design takes advantage of the grand, cavernous spaces provided by the original architecture of the Midland Goods Shed and the lofty height of the East Handyside Canopy. The nature and mix of uses, together with the design solutions to accommodate them, allows the public to experience the dramatic spaces within for the very first time and creates an innovative new focal point for King’s Cross.

Built by the Great Northern Railway in 1850, the Midland Goods Shed originally served as part of a temporary passenger terminal while the current King’s Cross station was being built. It was converted to a goods shed for the Midland Railway in 1857 and used for the handling and storage of goods that were brought into King’s Cross from across the country. The East and West Handyside Canopies were added in 1888, to provide a covered space for the transfer of potatoes and other perishable goods from rail to horse and cart.

Our design reconnects with the area’s industrial past. The mainline railways radically changed King’s Cross, with their extensive goods yards, built close to the canal for interchange purposes. Many of the industrial buildings and structures are fine examples of industrial brickwork that demonstrate styles of engineering and construction characteristic of the 19th and early 20th centuries, with the use of various types of brick, along with cast and wrought iron.

The design of the new space preserves the shed’s varied and idiosyncratic Victorian character of robust brickwork, thundering cast iron structures, cavernous spaces, delicate roof trusses and the majestic sweep of the 130m-long East Handyside Canopy.

A dominant feature of the structure is the 1878 ballast tank in the accumulator tower, which has been retained and lifted up, freeing up the ground floor area to serve as a lift lobby.

To maintain the character of the building, more recent additions to the structure, such as the steel trusses which date from 1957, have been replaced (in this case with new splayed steel scissor trusses designed in the spirit of the originals, with an intricate play of geometries).

This imaginative and flexible events space will link with the presence of neighbouring and pan-London arts and media organisations, and will hopefully become an extraordinary focus point for curiosity, conviviality and learning.