King’s Cross Filling Station is a curious addition to London’s temporary spaces, just don’t call it a pop-up. The folk behind it, namely Office of Change (a consultancy founded by Bistrotheque co-founder Pablo Flack, as a way to work on the many projects spiralling from the cultural dining phenomenon), are at pains to stress just that; it’s semi-permanent, here for at least two years, before news homes are built… definitely not a pop-up. Got that? OK, onwards we move.
The building itself comes courtesy of the rather talented Carmody Groarke, it’s a beautifully fragile vision of the petrol station that it’s been built around, part-retro, part-futurist, steeped in space-age Americana; it’s a looks a bit like how the movie Drive sounds – the sweeping translucent waves of its façade pulsating like a soft electro drum track, the elegant, haunting signage recalling the warmth of oscillating synths. A little too poetic? But it’s true, the warm glow of that loosely kerned font… it just does something to you.
Inside, the Bistrotheque chaps do what they know best; Shrimpy’s is a critically acclaimed diner in the station’s former kiosk. Serving up the kind of West Coast cuisine that the exterior has you daydreaming of, it all comes together quite nicely – Soft shell crab burger, chowder, chimichurri… you could easily forget your’re overlooking the Regent’s Canal. Bold, unique, and effortlessy indulging those with synth-soundtracked road-trip fantasies; King’s Cross Filling Station is an inspirational new cultural hub for the next couple of years, just don’t call it a pop-up.
Photograph, Luke Hayes
courtesy of Carmody Groarke
Photograph, Luke Hayes
courtesy of Carmody Groarke
Photograph courtesy of Shrimpy’s
Photograph, Luke Hayes
courtesy of Carmody Groarke
Photograph, Luke Hayes
courtesy of Carmody Groarke
Photograph courtesy of Shrimpy’s
Photograph, Luke Hayes
courtesy of Carmody Groarke
