The Granary

The Granary is a granary built between 1851 and 1852 by Lewis Cubitt. It is a group value building, recognised for its architectural and historical significance. The building is constructed of multi-coloured stock brick with a double-hipped Welsh slate roof covered in bitumen. It has a rectangular plan.

The exterior features a symmetrical south front with nine bays, four of which slightly project. Flanking bays contain later square-headed, recessed windows to four stories, illuminating the staircases. Segmental arched, recessed casements are spaced between the window bays, alternating with hoist bays. Each hoist bay has double, wooden, half-glazed doors set in segmental-arched recesses that rise the full height of the building. Some original crane mechanisms remain, sheltered by projecting stone hoods supported on paired brackets. A projecting stone cornice and blocking course runs around the projecting bays.

The interior has wooden flooring supported by cast-iron columns and T-beams. Each floor is arranged with 46 columns in six colonnades, supporting paired cast-iron beams running east-west. The circumference of the columns progressively decreases from the ground to the fourth floor. Column heights are 2.4 metres, except for the ground floor columns, which are 4.1 metres high. The fifth floor has taller columns in the two central colonnades, supporting the roof structure; lower columns forming two colonnades to either side support massive cast-iron beams that originally held water tanks for a low-pressure hydraulic power system. The wooden roof structure incorporates queen post trusses with a single wrought-iron suspension rod running from the apex to the collar in each truss. Cast-iron brackets are used at the intersection of timbers instead of traditional wood joints. Staircases are located in the south-east and south-west corners, featuring stone geometrical stairs with original wrought-iron balustrades. Original cast-iron double fire doors lead from the staircases on each floor.

Historically, the Granary was a primary feature of the goods interchange facilities at King’s Cross. It was designed to store up to 60,000 sacks of grain, moved by hydraulic power to hoists. Originally, two canal arms ran beneath the ground floor, providing access to the Regent's Canal via a basin or dock on the main south front (now filled in). Rail access was provided by three lines running east-west to flanking transit sheds; platforms serving these lines survive in the north-west and north-east corners of the Granary.