ACO Water Management’s drainage solutions have been installed throughout the redevelopment of King’s Cross. As well as meeting site-specific requirements, aesthetically these installations are a great example of urban surface design. Thousands of passengers use the 7,000m2 King’s Cross Square outside King’s Cross Station every day, which sits just 500mm above the roof of the London Underground ticket hall.

With gulleys rejected due to the increase in variation of gradients required and the hazard they present to heeled shoes, a much more unobtrusive solution in ACO’s MultiDrain channels was chosen for the perimeter of the square, to prevent water runoff reaching the public throughway. These also incorporated ACO’s Heelsafe stainless steel grates for added safety. Within the square itself, MultiDrain was again used, this time featuring Twin Offset Brickslots, channelling the water into a network of underground pipes and chambers that store the water before it is discharged into the Fleet Street sewer.

Commenting on ACO’s work on the King’s Cross site, David Burtenshaw at ACO said: “Each area on the King’s Cross site had it’s own hydraulic requirements and central to this was the need for products that complement the design and feel of the urban space. With ACO’s wide ranging water management systems, we were able to meet and exceed these with our MultiDrain channels and various grating options, providing aesthetically pleasing and high performing solutions.”