A beautiful pocket park and children's play area for King's Cross
Handyside Gardens is a beautifully landscaped pocket park just moments from Granary Square and the canal. There are places to sit, a water rill and a children’s play area.
The gardens are between the homes at ArtHouse and the Midlands Goods Shed – a restored historic train shed which is now home to a Waitrose store, café and cookery school.
A design inspired by the railway – past and present
This was the first public garden to open at King’s Cross. The geometry of the park reflects the pattern of the railway sidings that once ran through the site, while the planting is inspired by the growth found on railway embankments.
The railway has also influenced the technical design of the gardens. The rail tunnels that run into King’s Cross Station are just 4.5 metres under the surface here. This limited the depth of the soil and the number of trees that could be planted. The solution was to plant in raised beds which are framed in corten steel – a material used in the construction of the railways in industrial times.
Landscaped by Dan Pearson Studio
Handyside Gardens is designed and landscaped by Dan Pearson Studio. Dan Pearson is an internationally acclaimed landscape architect, his studio is involved in different aspects of the gardens and open space at King’s Cross.
Dan writes regularly about gardening and you can read more about Handyside Gardens in this Observer Magazine piece.
