The modernised area around King’s Cross opened on Thursday 26th September 2013 by the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, who laid one of the final paving stones on the new King’s Cross Square. In April 2010, Stanton Williams Architects were announced as the winners of a Network Rail competition for the design of a new 7000m² square to the front of King’s Cross Station, as part of the King’s Cross Redevelopment Programme. Sir David Higgins, Network Rail’s chief executive, joined the mayor to congratulate teams hard at work on the final touches to the project.