King's Cross Lighthouse to get revamp

After twenty years!

I thought it might fall down before it was sorted.

that block is really derelict now, it's a pity cos there were quite a few businesses there before, I like the lighthouse, hopefully they will do a good job on it

I often wonder about that little triangle of land and wonder what's going on thinking that it must be some intractable planning blight cause by being on the borders of Camden and Islington.

I also think that this could be the end of the day for Mao Zedong!

oh yes, you pointed that out to us on that walk, I'd never noticed it before

Nobody knows what the Lighthouse was for!

it is a mystery!

good.

I thought it was alight when fresh oysters were being served in the oyster bar below?

That is I think the most accepted reason but even that is unclear in this building's case....maybe the builder just liked Lighthouses?!?!

From the Urban75 pages

"The official view used to be that the 'lighthouse' was an advertising feature intended to promote Netten's oyster bar which was immediately beneath on the ground floor. This is now shown to be unlikely."

Why does it seem unlikely? (cos it was not a feature anywhere else?)

About three months ago, I helped out somebody digging out a basement at the bottom of the Cally Road. (A stones throw from the soon to be ex Flying Scotsman) built around the same time as Keystone Crescent(1870s), I can confirm there where shed loads (well actually cellar loads) of oyster shells mixed in with the hardcore/foundations.

According to locals, one of whom died earlier this year (aged 98) & living in the same house as she was born in, The top of Gray's Inn Road used to be a funfair! Right next to where the Lighthouse is.

Only having oysters twice in my life (& suffering an allergic reaction both times, ) I could understand wanting them fresh.

For such an iconic building not to have more references when it was built I don't understand.

Maybe it was to navigate a peasouper.

It does split Pentonville Road (Quick rant for those not in KC, why does the spell checker, along with so many peeps ask how Pentonville Road is spelt? Did they never play Monopoly?) With Gray's Inn Road it could have been a guide for taxis in the dark.

The only reason it seems unlikely to me is that some poor bugger had to go upstairs and light the light.

I know that is was easily accessible for shooting pigeons in the mid to late eighties but also starting to crumble. (Hence why some bit are missing.)

I will follow on with my own percy reseach & try to dig out a photo or any other interesting fact.

Anyone with an objection, look at the time of my post & argue when the sun shines.

you're missing a 't' in 'this' in the caption under the walthamstow lighthouse pic

interesting reading though

If this is the scheme that goes ahead, I'm rather pleasantly surprised. The zinc armadillo roof of the extension doesn't look too obtrusive.

http://www.latitudearchitects.com/architecture/commercial/the-lighthouse/

This is good news, I'd assumed they were going to pull it down as part of the scorched-earth assault on the "old" King's Cross. Nice to see they are able to distinguish between the good and bad elements of the area's recent history.

I think there should be a light at the top of the Lighthouse.

was inside there/ on the roof last week and its a fucking state inside.

Having the Circle Line running a few feet underneath the site has also seriously limited the options for redevelopment.

OMFG, I've walked past that building hundreds of times and never noticed it had a lighthouse on top. Wow!!

I see they've cleaned off some of the graffiti though.

If it was plastered with ads then that'd fit in with the lighthouse being an ad in itself. Plus the lighthouse is higher than the top of that photo you posted, surely?

p)

Couldn't possibly have been the case then.

Thanks for your input.

Pointing out that the picture you posted doesn't show where the lighthouse is, isn't an empty sneery comment though.

I don't accept you to agree though, so don't worry. X

...from what I hear from friends at KXRLG (Kings Cross Railway Lands Group) final council approval for the 'armadillo' redesign haven't yet been given, as a few objections have been raised by some sticklers for tradition. It seems though that the council is likely to approve in the end, but you know how it goes with these planning application things...

Part of the problem is that the 'back' of the building (facing the Scala) is owned by London Transport, as they have doors there that go down into the underground, and this section takes up a fair amount of space in the property. From what I gather the armadillo roof bit will house some of the more functional aspects of the building (ventilation or what not)

Sigh.

The picture you posted doesn't go up high enough to show the lighthouse bit.

My dad told me the tower on top was one of those... wossname, works like a pinhole camera: you see the the surrounding landscape projected onto a horizontal round screen. There's one at Clifton - what's it called? Camera obscura?

Yes, here's the one in Edinburgh: http://camera-obscura.co.uk/camera_obscura/camera_obscura.asp