St Pancras Station and Hotel

St Pancras Station and Hotel - originally called the Midland Grand Hotel - is one of the great examples of Victorian Gothic - or Gothic Revival - architecture. Commissioned by the Midland Railway, who had been sharing King's Cross with the Great Northern Railway, as their London terminus, the train shed was built in 1863-5. At 210 metres (689 ft) long and 30.5 metre (100 ft) high, and with a 75 metre (243) ft span, it was the largest covered space in the world at the time. This impressive roof was designed by W. H. Barlow - who had helped Sir Joseph Paxton with his design for the 'Crystal Palace' Great Exhibition building of 1851 - and executed by the engineer R. M. Ordish.

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Q. When was the hotel added

A. The hotel was added to the front by Sir Gilbert Scott in 1868-74. The Gothic structure is in brick, with granite pillars and a clock tower somewhat in the style of Big Ben.

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Q. And how much did it cost to build

A. The total cost of hotel and engine shed together was around one million pounds.

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Q. Who was Sir Gilbert Scott

A. He was a leading architect of the Victorian Gothic movement. His output was astonishing, with nearly 1,000 buildings designed by him and his firm. He was responsible for such important London landmarks as the Albert Memorial (1862-3), the Home Office and Colonial Office (1858 onwards) and the India Office (originally planned as Gothic by Scott, but then changed to Italian Renaissance style after a change of Government). In Oxford, he designed the Martyrs' Memorial (1841), Exeter College Chapel (1856) and St John's College Chapel (1863-9). In Scotland he was the architect of the Episcopal Cathedral, Edinburgh, and Glasgow University (1865). He also worked on the restoration of various cathedrals, including Ely, Gloucester, Chester, St Davids, Salisbury, Lichfield, Worcester and Rochester. Scott was Professor of Architecture at the Royal Academy from 1866 to 1873

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Q. What's so 'Gothic' about St Pancras

A. As is customary in Gothic architecture, fantasy animal motifs are used in the decoration of the building. Dragons with hooked beaks, eagles' claws and crocodile tails appear in pairs - no two pairs the same and the crocodiles sometimes swallowing their own tails, rather in the manner of Celtic decoration - and gargoyles hang down in some places like sleeping bats. The whole effect of the exterior is of a cathedral-like structure, a common feature of Victorian Gothic, and the main entrance to the station is in medieval cloister style with a central arched passage and two side passages.

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Q. What about the hotel

A. When it opened the Midland Grand Hotel was one of the most luxurious in London. With 250 rooms, a grand imperial staircase and a long, curved dining-room, it was considered one of the most sumptuous hotels in the Empire. It had many ultra-modern features, including revolving doors and hydraulic 'ascending rooms', an early type of lift.

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The hotel's construction required 60 million bricks and 9,000 tons of ironwork. The casual observer can easily mistake the columns for marble - actually they are polished British granite and limestone of fourteen different varieties.

The Midland Hotel finally closed in 1935 and the building was subsequently renamed St Pancras Chambers and used as railway offices.

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Q. Has it ever been in danger of being demolished

A. Victorian Gothic was considered rather vulgar for much of the 20th century, and the building had to be rescued from demolition in the 1960's. When it failed its fire certificate in 1980 the offices were closed down, and they remain empty to this day. In the mid-1990s, at a cost of some �10 million, the exterior of the building was restored to its original condition, and the whole thing made structurally sound and weather proof. Though the interior is in a poor state of repair, much of the original decoration survives.

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Q. What are the latest plans for the building

A. That it should be re-developed as a hotel as part of the overall regeneration of King's Cross.

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Q. Can you get in to see it

A. The station still operates so you can visit it easily enough and there is some public access to St Pancras Chambers through organised guided tours and occasional open days.

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By Simon Smith