King's Cross

George Gilbert Scott's 1868 masterpiece of Victorian Gothic architecture, with William Barlow's engineering triumph of a single-span train shed behind it. The Midland Grand Hotel is now the St Pancras Renaissance, open and stunning. Wander through regardless of whether you're catching a train.

Thomas Heatherwick's 2018 conversion of two Victorian coal drops into a curved retail and restaurant space. Approximately 50 shops and restaurants, with an emphasis on independent and design-focused tenants. The architecture of the joining roof - where the two buildings meet and curve towards each other - is striking from any angle.

The central public space of the King's Cross development, on the Regent's Canal bank. The 1,080 fountains in the paving are computer-controlled and change pattern throughout the day. The surrounding buildings include the University of the Arts London, Dishoom King's Cross, and the House of Illustration.

The largest Dishoom, in a beautifully converted railway goods transit shed. Same menu as all Dishoom branches - the bacon naan, the black daal, the Irani chai - but a much bigger room with a railway arch aesthetic that works particularly well for the concept.

The towpath running west from King's Cross along the Regent's Canal passes through Camley Street Natural Park, under Victorian bridges, past narrowboat moorings, and through London Zoo's northern boundary before reaching Regent's Park. A 45-minute walk that reveals a completely different London from the street above.

Three Victorian iron gas holders converted into a circular apartment complex, with the original iron structures retained and listed. The architecture is one of the most distinctive pieces of building in London: mid-Victorian engineering as the frame for 21st-century housing. The surrounding garden and canal walkway are publicly accessible.