Euston Station, that unloved 1960s slab of a railway station is to be tarted up, a little bit.

Long term readers will remember that I think the station is unjustly maligned, and it just needs the clutter cleared away to reveal the original vast concourse that once dominated the space.

Network Rail has decided to fall back on their increasingly popular mezzanine option, and where the station currently has a cluster of tired little shops running along the back of the building, an 8,000 sq ft balcony will be created, featuring a new bar, a selection of casual dining outlets and a seating area overlooking the main concourse.

The balcony is expected to open to the public in late 2015.

Phase two of the scheme will see the current station food court converted into an expanded retail area by the end of 2015.

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The planning documents submitted to the council cover just the exterior changes, which seem to be minimal — just shifting the food huts and tidying up the plaza, so it’s difficult to see in detail how the changes to the interior will look when completed.

One potential upside, from this writers perspective, is that people will be elevated upwards and will be sitting much closer to the often ignored ceiling, which is a masterpiece of concrete design. Maybe giving people a different perspective of the huge open concourse will sway a few more minds towards thinking it’s not that bad a building after all?

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8 comments
  1. Josh says:

    So I take it a major rebuild for HS2 isn’t on the cards then.

  2. Gordon says:

    Presumably Network Rail judges HS2 to be far enough away that they’ll get their money back (in increased rents) on this relatively small makeover, before a proper redevelopment (whichever option is chosen) is needed for HS2.
    Euston’s had several tiny rejigs in the last decade, i.e. adding the clutch of cafes in front of the station building, and the removal of the octagonal shops inside on the concourse. The TfL travel centre is behind builders hoardings at the moment, as well.
    No, it’s not a ‘lovable’ building, but the station proper suffers from being hidden by a really bad curtain of (mostly) low-rise offices between it and the Euston Road, so there’s no view of the station building frontage to establish it in the mind. But there again, 50 years ago St Pancras was unloved, unwanted and set to be demolished. How times change…..

  3. Gordon says:

    Footnote (ceiling-note?): the ceiling in the Travel Centre always catches my eye when I’m waiting to buy a ticket – is it functional, as part of a ventilation system, or just decorative, with those deeply curved downward-pointing almost-pyramids ending in square openings? I think I like it.
    If my description doesn’t convey the appearance well enough, google it, there are pictures.
    The trouble with looking up is you tend to bump into people…..

  4. Greg Tingey says:

    Knock it down & put the Propylaeum back!

  5. Tim Hall says:

    It needs to break down the barrier between the concourse and the trains, so it actually resembles a railway station rather than pretending to be an airport.

    Demolishing the concrete raft over the platforms and building a modern Waterloo-style trainshed might not be an option, but opening up the concourse end might be.

  6. LadyBracknell says:

    Strip the present station back to it’s original, stark design as illustrated in Ian’s earlier article.

  7. Richard Ash says:

    Does this mean that there will actually be somewhere to sit (without being a customer) from which you can tell when your train is available to board, and have a chance of getting there before it leaves? This seems to me to be the major problem with Euston at present – the only way to watch for the belated appearance of your train is to stand in the vast expanse of floor, getting in everyone else’s way. Not fun if your health isn’t up to standing indefinitely.

    • Gordon says:

      Indeed. There are about two dozen seats just inside the south-eastern entrance near the Travel Centre, but they don’t face the main departure board over platforms 5-11. There’s a small lounge in front of platforms 12-14. There are ‘repeater’ small screens in the present food court I think though not visible from every seat. But the majority of passengers have to do as you describe.

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