A new arts centre with no public subsidy? Henrietta Bredin talks to its founder Peter Millican
Let’s get one thing out of the way immediately — King’s (with an apostrophe) Cross in London is the location for the new and very splendid mixed-use office building and performance space, Kings Place, which has no business letting a misguided graphic designer decide to drop the apostrophe. It should be King’s Place, please.
Now, onwards. This project is the brainchild of Peter Millican, a Northumbrian developer whose work has been, until now, mostly in and around Newcastle. He has wanted for some years to combine business and the arts in a single building, with beneficial effects for both, and particularly wanted to find a site close to an international travel hub. He started looking ten years ago and quickly realised that King’s Cross was the ideal place. ‘It’s such an exciting part of the city,’ he says. ‘There’s the Eurostar terminal and the whole network of rail, Tube and bus transport. Then we’ve got the offices for Network Rail and the Guardian in this building, and the area will have a thriving student life soon when Central Saint Martin’s art college moves here.’
Remarkably, what this passing reference to Network Rail and the Guardian means is that what Millican has created is an office block with concert halls and galleries attached, presenting a programme of music and exhibitions without the benefit of public subsidy. This would be pretty impressive at any time but particularly now, in the prevailing conditions of rabbit-in-the-headlights financial paralysis. He charges commercial rents to the businesses concerned and has been able to offer office space to the London Sinfonietta and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment at peppercorn rates.
Comments
Join the debate for just £1 a month
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for £3.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just £1 a monthAlready a subscriber? Log in