Sports Hall

King's Cross, London
2014 - 2020

The King’s Cross Sports Hall is an all-timber building, designed with multiple lives in mind. It will first serve as a Construction Skills Centre providing local people with access to the job opportunities created by the wider King’s Cross development.

Conceived as a low-rise industrial building, its form is defined by the distinctive serrated roof and façades as a nod to its railway context and heritage. The patinated zinc cladding contrasts with the timber materiality, with much of the building’s complexity unseen at ground level. Internally, key interior spaces are arranged on either side of a central 'social spine', while the exposed CLT and glulam panels give warmth to the interior.

Designed to meet a near-zero carbon target, many innovative and passive design measures were incorporated including mixed-mode ventilation and optimised glazing ratios to provide daylight while reducing heat gains. It also benefits from connection to the King's Cross Central district heating and cooling network. Altogether, the chosen finishes give the building a very low embodied carbon target of 195kgCO2e/m2 once sequestration is taken into account (650kgCO2e/m2 without).

The substructure consists of a bespoke mix concrete slab with strip foundation footings. These run perpendicularly across the tunnels to prevent concentrated loads. Above ground, the lightweight structure is achieved with Cross-Laminated Timber (CLT) soldier walls and slabs paired with glulam columns and beams for its primary construction.

Embodied Carbon Data

The diagram to the right is the LETI declaration which we helped to develop, which allows the benchmarking of building’s’ embodied carbon against one another. We believe this is the first public use of the declaration, including public disclosure of the background data and plan to use it for all buildings going forward regardless of the project’s ambition. However, the Sport’s Hall B rating shows we are achieving the RIBA 2030 target 10 years early for Education, which is the closest typology (Retail is another potential typology to use but Education was chosen as its targets are lower, and because the building is used for Further Education in its first-life).

 


The figures are based on a BAM assessment using OneClick, using as-built quantities and specification and were reviewed by an industry professional to check for any under-reporting. The MEP, which is typically under-reported is based on a professional assessment at Stage 3 using a methodology which is less likely to under-report. Unfortunately due to the reporting format of the software many of the subcategories are not split out fully, but the full RICS scope is included. An example of how we aim to publish data is available on the 11-21 Canal Reach page.

See Sports Hall Embodied Carbon Data as a case study on LETI.

 


Sustainability

  • Upfront Carbon (A1-A5) incl. LETI Rating –
  • 349 kgCO₂e/m² (B)
  • Embodied Carbon (A-C) incl. LETI Rating –
  • 429 kgCO₂e/m² (B)
  • Sequestered Carbon –
  • -314 kgCO₂e/m²
  • Operational Energy (Whole Building) –
  • Awaiting in-use data
  • Operational Energy (Landlord) –
  • N/A
  • Fossil Fuel Free Energy? –
  • Yes


Project Information

  • Client
  • Argent
  • Area
  • 2,032 sqm GIA
  • Structural engineer
  • Ove Arup & Partners
  • Services engineer
  • E3 Consulting Engineers
  • Quantity surveyor
  • Gardiner & Theobald
  • Main contractor
  • BAM
  • Delivery Architect
  • Stride Treglown

Awards

  • 2022
  • Camden Design Awards – Highly Commended