Dan Pearson Studio

On November 5th Handyside Gardens, part of the King's Cross development, was opened to a select number of press and organisations with local interest, prior to this new park being open to  the public in late December.



Handyside Gardens sits between an apartment building and a railway shed that will soon to be converted to house a cookery school and a supermarket.


Due to the fact that the gardens are located above Underground tunnels there was a shallow soil depth available, so we have created a series of raised beds made of Corten steel which reference the industrial materials of the former railway sidings once located here.

Although primarliy intended as a dedicated green route through the area, the garden does provide places to sit and meet and also has a dedicated children's play area.


The space is defined by a network of sinuous piebald hedges, made from a mix of native plants, which follow the lines of the original sidings . The planting consists of  a large number of pioneer species, which reference the plants often found on railway embankments, where wild plants mix with garden escapees. The planting has been designed to provide year-round interest, with seed heads and dried grasses being left through the winter, and only removed when spring bulbs emerge. Argent, the developer for King's Cross, is also responsible for the maintenance.

We have also been commissioned to work on the horticultural aspects of other parts of the development with a view to bringing a horticultural coherence to the whole site, which has been masterplanned by Townshend Landscape Architects.