Positioned on a sharp bend in the Regent's Canal north of King's Cross Station, Granary Sq is at the heart of a major redevelopment of a 27-hectare expanse, once full of abandoned freight warehouses and an enormous granary. The square's most striking feature is the fountain made of 1080 individually lit water jets, which pulse and dance in sequence. On hot spring and summer days, it becomes a busy urban beach.
The vast brick 1852 warehouse designed by Lewis Cubitt and fronting the square is now home to some excellent eating spots as well as the main campus of Central St Martins University of the Arts London (www.arts.ac.uk/colleges/central-saint-martins). Also worth noting is the wavy glass frontage of the canal-side Kings Place building to the east. Completed in 2008, it's home to a concert hall, restaurants, commercial galleries, and the offices of the Guardian and Observer newspapers. The excellent gallery House of Illustration is at No 2.