Once in a life time

St Pancras Chambers and the Manhattan Loft Corporation … when the result of London & Continental Railways’ competition was announced back in 1997, it seemed an unlikely pairing. St Pancras Chambers was dripping in architectural opulence, the celebration of a disappearing past even when it was designed. Manhattan Loft had made its name with spare, contemporary Clerkenwell loft conversions and apartments designed by architectural innovators like CZWG. What’s more, at the time it won the right to redevelop the 120-year-old London landmark, Manhattan Loft had been in business for only five.

But eight years on, the alliance looks like a natural fit – even an inspired one. In the intervening years, Manhattan Loft has broadened its range to include mixed-use developments such as Fulham Island, and has converted historic buildings like the grade I-listed warehouses at West India Quay. What’s more, a track record in championing design has made it a regular in RIBA Journal’s Top 50 clients listing.

And it has already shown that the formula of a luxury hotel topped by apartments – the preferred solution for St Pancras – works well. At West India Quay, its 32-storey tower contained a Marriott-operated hotel in the lower 12 floors and above that, 152 apartments and six penthouses.

For managing director Angus Boag, the intervening years have included protracted negotiations with Camden council and English Heritage on restoring St Pancras Chambers’ economic health. The architects had to produce more than 1000 drawings for the planning application, which was made in July 2004 and granted in March 2005.

Boag says: “There were very lengthy discussions with English Heritage and Camden, but I think we’ve formed a very good partnership with them. Our views on how to deal with the building were very much aligned. Our philosophical approach on a building like this is to make the scheme fit the building, not make the building fit some idealised scheme.”

On a tour of the hotel, it’s evident that Boag has developed a keen sense of the chambers’ history. He points out the imposing grand staircase and the surviving canvas mural by artist Thomas Wallis Hay. The anachronistically named ladies’ smoking room raises a charming smile. “Gentlemen smoked wherever they liked,” he says.

more than 1000 drawings for the planning application, which was made in July 2004 and granted in March 2005.

Being an enthusiast for Sir George Gilbert Scott’s masterpiece doesn’t mean that Manhattan Loft has abandoned its commercial instincts. The refurbished first-floor hotel rooms will retain listed features, such as cornicing, fireplaces and mirrors. But asked whether the restoration will include the original painted ceilings and wallpaper, Boag is unequivocal. “Oh no,” he says. “The grand staircase, ladies’ smoking room, coffee lounge, first-floor dining room and entrance lobby will be faithfully restored. The rooms that EH consider less significant we can’t restore due to cost.”

All but four of the 67 apartments – with selling prices ranging from £500,000 to £1.5m – have already been reserved by buyers seeking a dramatic backdrop to their lives. Manhattan Loft deliberately marketed the development to owner-occupiers rather than buy-to-let investors. “This is a building we wanted people to live in and enjoy. The people who want to come and live here have known the building, and really want to buy a piece of history. They also realise the location is going to be an exceptional one.”

As Boag points out, the redeveloped King’s Cross area will enjoy some of the best transport connections in the capital. “There are seven tube lines, the mainline rail network, Thameslink and the CTRL. It’s fantastically well-located,” he says.

An address at St Pancras Chambers also opens up the delightful possibility of nipping over to Paris for supper. And when Parisians make the return trip, their first impressions of St Pancras will be as much of an architectural riposte to the Gare du Nord as the Midland Railway Company originally intended for the first incarnation of the building. Not that Boag is admitting to any such nationalistic notions. He says Manhattan Loft was attracted to the scheme because “we thought it was such an important building, such a landmark. Everyone in London has it in their top five favourites”.

And thanks to Manhattan Loft’s skill at mixing uses and reviving historic buildings, St Pancras will have the chance to become a favourite of new generations of Londoners to come.