Great places to visit in London: Samsung KX

Have you been to Kings Cross recently? A friend of mine said recently that she nearly bought a flat there years ago, and - many years later - is seriously regretting her decision not to, as it’s now utterly gorgeous there. Walk down the side of Kings Cross St Pancras station and there’s a whole new area of lovely shops, restaurants, cafés, bars and lovely places to sit and watch the world go by. Go a little further and you’ll find Coal Drops Yard - a brand new trendy shopping district where old Victorian brick viaducts have been redeveloped into even more lovely places to shop, dine and hang out (there’s even a gorgeous Tom Dixon showroom - you know how I love a bit of Tom). And now, there’s a dramatic new addition to Coal Drops Yard in the form of a multi-tasking leisure space created by Samsung. And if you’re looking to great places to visit in London - Samsung KX should definitely be on your list.

Samsung KX

What’s Samsung KX all about then?

It’s actually quite difficult to explain exactly what Samsung KX is. I think Samsung call it an ‘experience space’. It’s not a shop, particularly, although if you want, you can try out and buy loads of different Samsung products, from phones to fridges, TVs and more. You can also book in to get your device repaired, or get help setting up an existing one, but it’s not really about that either. It’s more like a huge leisure space where you can come and hang out. The building itself is stunning, reaching out from both sides of Coal Drops Yard in two giant waves that meet in the middle.

The Samsung KX building

Get your hands on all the latest Samsung tech

Who is Samsung KX for?

I’ve thought long and hard about this, and I think it has enough different things on to attract more or less everyone: for families and kids, there’s DJ Galaxy: DJ decks where you can have a go at creating your own tunes, as well as virtual reality bikes, and the Digital Cockpit, giving you a chance to ‘drive’ the car of the future, complete with mind-boggling gadgets and gizmos like intelligence assistant Bixby that allows the driver to control the radio just by saying ‘play next song’, a clever system that alerts the driver when they are distracted or drowsy, and incredible connectivity controls that let you check what’s in the fridge or answer the doorbell. Then there’s Galaxy Graffiti, a huge, virtual wall where you can create your own art using a Galaxy S10 spray can.

Digital Cockpit: drive the concept car of the future

Teenagers will love the gaming sessions at Samsung KX

For adults, it’s a chance to chill out and relax with a coffee while using the free wifi, or maybe listen to a talk or attend a class.

What’s on at Samsung KX

What’s on at Samsung KX

There’s a huge range of events and classes available at Samsung KX: yoga and dance classes, boxing classes with a live DJ; creative classes in the Connected Kitchen (including gin making, coffee brewing and more), Ted talks, baby music sessions, film nights and talks by various professionals on all sorts of varied subjects, like fashion and tech. The Samsung KX Presents | Thread Talks are a serious of six ‘in conversation’ events featuring some of the biggest names in the world of media, sport, culture and comedy and the next free event will see host and comedian Alex Zane and actor and comedian Mathew Horne come together to discuss the world of Twitter threads, spats and conversations. The event is completely free and guests will even hear from Twitter UK’s Director of Planning, David Wilding.

Book in to join talks, lectures and workshops

There are also shows, story telling sessions for 0-3 year olds, sound therapy and meditation classes… the list is endless. There’s even an AR message tree - look through the bank of phones, and you can click on a message bubble virtually floating in the ceiling space to read it, or even leave one of your own. I loved it.

The AR message tree at Samsung KX

Love it! How do I get involved

Well, you can either just turn up and wander round all the different bits and pieces, have a coffee, sit and watch the world go by… or you can book yourself into one of the tens of different courses available. There’s a full event listing here. And remember, if you’re looking for great places to visit in London: Samsung KX is bound to be doing all sorts of special things over the festive season. I wish I lived closer!

Thanks to Samsung for inviting me along!