A strong sense of place should ideally trigger a heady brew of emotions, right? I want to feel surges of pride, belonging and awe, a sense of history with a sheen of optimistic modernity, a consistent gut-flutter of excitement and possibility…

In a wildly organic city like this one; a patchwork of everything from solid Roman ruins to grand Victorian visions, via the scars of the Luftwaffe; our places have morphed and shape-shifted for hundreds of years - and continue to do so.

Desperate attempt are made at degrees of urban planning, but ultimately how one development fits into the local jigsaw, and the impact it then has on our emotions towards the space it inhabits, is often a roll of the dice.

The shiny new life sciences facilities currently taking shape on the canal side between King’s Cross and Camden Town look set to bring a dynamic extension to the area’s much-loved repurposed industrial public realm.

An expansion of the world-leading Francis Crick Institute, the labs will add even more enviable firepower to the local Knowledge Quarter offering, alongside the ubiquitous cafes, retailers and a new public footbridge for us locals to swoon over. The one problem? The name.

Calling it Tribeca must have felt oh-so-fun in the planning meetings when they spotted the potential to lean heavily on the cool of New York’s famous industrial neighbourhood, which lies within a TRIangle BElow CAnal street. It’s just that in Camden’s case, the ‘triangle’ beside the canal is a relatively squat site formerly occupied by a post office depot and The Ugly Brown Building, former HQ of fallen fashion brand Ted Baker.

I’m nothing but excited about the opening of this development, but borrowing such an iconic name from another city somehow lends a touch of bland international real estate guff to a site that’s heavy with local history - and potential names.

I get that these huge sites need to lure global players in a competitive worldwide marketplace, but so much of the attraction of modern King’s Cross is its authentic gritty backstory, we surely don’t really need to parachute in names from elsewhere like it’s just another faceless Dubai condo development?

Of course, a quick glimpse at the colonial map reveals that the import/export of place names has gone on enthusiastically for some time, but it’s the direct commercial imperative of today’s name borrowing that diminishes the sense of place, especially in such a connected world.

It was the same story 25-or-so years back when the office conversion of carpet warehouses in Kentish Town were badged Highgate Studios, KT apparently (but soon to be proven quite the opposite) not having the perceived desirability of posh old Highgate, half a mile away up the road.

This week, the nearby and initially controversial redevelopment of Highgate Newtown Community Centre had praise lavished upon its architecture and vision in this article in The Guardian.

For all its mish mash of styles, schemes and associated political scraps, Camden has a strong legacy of innovative social housing, mixed in with some more questionable stuff, of course. It seems like the push and pull demands of funding, housing needs and community space have conspired beautifully here to deliver something that will stir all those requisite emotions around a sense of place for generations to come.

Highgate Newtown already offered a fascinatingly broad range of architecture, from gothic cottages to brutalist estates, exemplifying the best of London’s built environment tapestry, so the Newtown newcomer sounds sympathetically suited to these surrounds - and it didn’t need to be rebranded The Verge or Park West to shift units, either.

Unfortunately its a different story across the Heath at Gospel Oak, where the small flats once known as Bacton Low Rise once stood. Demolished back in 2018, the Council-led project then stalled and the cleared site has sat empty ever since.

Now, already agitated residents are mobilising against shock plans recently revealed for three tower blocks to be built on the site, rising up to a whopping 26 storeys high. Again here, the Council and their development partner’s need to fund social housing ‘regeneration’ with additional private sale homes is driving the model, but it would appear the long-suffering people of Gospel Oak are felt able to endure a far more radical transformation of their area than initially suggested.

Enlisting the likes of top cartoonist Kipper Williams (see main pic above) and evergreen Python Michael Palin to back the resistance, it’s good to see this part of the borough not preparing to be rode roughshod by developers and planners.

Perhaps it’s the legacy of decades of some successful, some deeply questionable schemes built cheek by jowl all around that have galvinised support, producing a shared passion for place that even somewhere as overlooked as estates around Queen’s Crescent, can still evoke, regardless.

Bacton Low Rise isn’t just a place name now, its a whole movement. A statement of intent. The will of the community. That’s the power of a name - and of a place.

📊 This week’s one-click poll

Do leave us a comment after voting too, as it’s great to hear your thoughts.

Last week’s results to the question: Does this story motivate you to go and see more challenging fringe shows?

Yes! It's a good reminder that we have so much going on all around us that should be supported
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 62%

No! I'm no fan of pokey dark rooms and overenthusiastic drama-queens
🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 11%

Maybe - I'm starting to see what might be lost if grassroots theatre dries up
🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 27%

and some of your comments:

“You never know who’s making their way up the ranks. Support new work and encourage young minds. £200 to see an A-list celeb rehash a play we’ve seen a million times is old tat. Give us the grit!”

“Not a fan. But I'm glad it exists for those who enjoy it”

FOOD & DRINK

Filipino ice cream joint is expanding

Reports of the demise of popular Filipino sando specialists Panadera Bakery in Kentish Town may yet prove somewhat exaggerated. The prolific restaurateurs who founded it, Maginhawa Group, seem to be busy transforming the site into something to be called Cafe Mamasons, the name shared by their delicious ice cream shop in the very same arcade.

Not only that, the cafe seems to be preparing to offer baked goods and sandos… Meanwhile, just around the corner in a former hair academy, the Mamasons Factory is also taking shape.

There’s clearly a 2025 reboot afoot, with two of the Group’s other joints on the same strip also undergoing transformations - the former Ramo Ramen noodle bar will soon become neighbourhood spot Belly Bistro, while Caribbean/West African take-out Moi Moi Island is also undergoing some kind of refresh.

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🛤️ The hidden railway portal behind a classic local pub

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