The construction of the West Concourse roof is part of the larger King's Cross renovation that began in 2007. The building forming the station’s east side has been refurbished, and a 12th platform has been added. Further, an underground chamber for services and equipment has been built in a 35,000-cu-m pit. Work to rehab the station’s western building is ongoing, and the train shed’s interior and twin 244-m-long roof vaults, each spanning 32 m, are being refurbished as well.

The West Concourse roof, sited between the station and the adjacent St. Pancras International terminal, overshadows all the work. The new concourse will be three times larger than the present clutter of temporary place-holder buildings, says Ian Fry, project director for the owner, Network Rail.

The poor condition of the terminal was brought into sharp focus by the lavish remodeling of the neighboring
St. Pancras Station last decade for service as London’s terminal for trains to Continental Europe via the Channel Tunnel. The two adjacent rail facilities, with their connections to the London Underground, form the city’s busiest transportation hub.

To handle growing traffic over recent decades, the original southern concourse at King’s Cross was extended into temporary buildings sprawling southward into the station square, but that concourse is of such poor quality that Tom Fernely, Network Rail's project spokesman, says he prefers the temporary facilities that have been provided during construction.

With new concourse construction at King’s Cross due to finish around this year’s end, nearly the whole renovation project is set for completion next spring, well before the July start of the Olympic Games.

King’s Cross/St. Pancras will be the main transportation hub for the games, which are expected to generate a surge of ridership. But the renovations also serve long-term needs: More than 40 million people pass through King’s Cross Station annually, including about 24-million fare-paying passengers, says Fry. Furthermore, passenger numbers are expected to increase by another 10 million within a decade while demand for better facilities grows. "There is a passenger expectation that is driven by the airlines," explains Fry.

With its airiness and dramatic appearance, the West Concourse is intended to satisfy some of those expectations.

After the final Olympic medal has been won, Network Rail plans to tear down the shanty-town southern concourse and return King’s Cross to something like its original grandeur.