Cadence, a new residential tower, nods to the historic building elements nearby.
Credit: Edmund Sumner/Sarah Schumacher for Bloomberg
A London Apartment Tower With Echoes of Victorian Rail and Ancient Rome
Alison Brooks Architects’ historically minded design for Cadence, an apartment complex in Kings Cross, uses building materials to tell a story about the city’s history.
(This story is part of “ Look at That Building ,” a Bloomberg CityLab series about everyday — and not-so-everyday — architecture. To get more stories like it, sign up for the Design Edition newsletter .)
Across large parts of London, architects and developers face a common conundrum. On one hand, they need to create contemporary, state-of-the art buildings that maximize a site’s potential. On the other hand, they also need to be acutely sensitive to historic cityscapes, or risk being either denied planning permission or facing accusations of ruining the city.