Situated in a series of interlinking scaled blocks designed by David Morley Architects, the Plimsoll building comprises 178 private apartments. The Plimsoll Building is named in honour of Samuel Plimsoll, one of Victorian Britain’s most important historical figures, and one with links to the history of King’s Cross. Plimsoll was a politician in the time of Queen Victoria’s reign. He campaigned for the safety of miners, and then, inspired by several major shipwrecks (and his investment in the railway coal drops at King’s Cross), moved his focus to goods ships, inventing what became known as the Plimsoll Line as a guide to how low in the water vessels should be.

The business objectives for The Plimsoll Building were to: provide a fantastic mixed tenure living environment alongside London’s best teaching and learning environment for mainstream, deaf and hard of hearing children; set a new benchmark for residential quality and capital values in the King’s Cross scheme; help create a thriving new urban community in King’s Cross and specifically around Gasholder Park; enrich the emerging public realm at King’s Cross; and demonstrate successfully a model for high-density, mixed-use “place making”.