Controversial Liverpool Street station redevelopment dropped in favour of new design
Plans to smother Liverpool Street station in a massive blob have been scrapped, and an alternative redevelopment plan that will preserve much of the existing station building has been shown off.
The initial concept still requires new offices to be built above the height of the existing station, but they don’t sit on top of the old hotel building, preserving its historic appearance.
In the early concepts just released, the overall effect looks more like two towers sitting over the station’s two main entrances. Naturally, these are just the initial concepts, which will need to be fleshed out over the next few months.
It’s notable that Network Rail is also leading the new plans developed by ACME rather than the property developer who put forward the previous unpopular scheme.
If approved, the oversite development will then fund changes to the railway station below, adding seven new lifts to provide step-free access between the mainline and tube station and doubling the number of escalators to eight to improve the access from the street into the station.
They say the plans will also mean more space and waiting areas inside the station.
Commenting on the new scheme, Robin Dobson, Group Property Director at Network Rail Property, said: “Investing in transport infrastructure is key to unlocking future economic growth.
“We’ve spent time talking and listening: our latest plans celebrate Victorian features including the original train shed and the Great Eastern Hotel.
” Network Rail Property is leading a new team with a new approach which will respect the station’s unique heritage – simple in design, embracing London’s mix of the old with the new.
“A new office building on top of the station concourse will generate the money to pay for these improvements.”
Network Rail will be consulting on the changes with passengers, local businesses, heritage groups and elected representatives and intends to submit a planning application within the next few months.
The consultation and more details are here.
Still completely unnecessary and of no benefit to anyone but the developers who stand to make a fortune. Passengers will have to put up with years of disruption just because the station is seen as cheap land on which to build another office tower. More lifts could be added far quicker without the office block, so constant mention of (very minor) “accessibility improvements” is just a cheap marketing ploy to try and purchase land on the cheap for an office tower with no regards or benefit towards passengers.
Kevin, features such as lifts to deep level tube lines cost significant sums of money and require substantial building works. In this case the Central line platforms lie mostly beneath the mainline station and there’s no site available to create lift shafts to them without doing works above. And the government is never going to spend hundreds of millions on lifts in tube stations instead of on hospitals or schools.
Yes the developers will make some money, that’s the way the real world works, and by allowing the development, investment and profit to take place, London gets the step free access paid for. It’s a stark choice between doing that and it never happening.
The last photo makes sense – removing the retail, putting in lots more barriers and realigning departure boards.
Not sure where all the light is coming from but all that could be done fairly cheaply without the office block devt.
How much square meterage has been lost in the redesign? If not much, good!
But if it’s a lot, then NIMBYs win yet again. Building on Liverpool Street is a great idea, it’s the best connected station in the city where office space is in huge demand, which in turn gives us more growth which we desperately need to fund everything!
So what happens to the twin towers at the Bishopsgate entrance? And I guess we can kiss goodbye forever to daylight as celebrated by John Davidson in his poem ‘Liverpool Street Station’: “Through crystal roofs the sunlight fell…
It’s dire. It’s a muddle of a building with bits of cabbage cascading down its shaved off corners. We loose the excellent entry spaces and faces of the station at both ends of the site. It’s just not good enough. Shame on them all.
A design that looks cobbled together to justify an end, the idea that you need a massive office development above a station to fund a few lifts and escalators is utter drivel.
Building office blocks in the City of London takes years, if not a decade, due to funding for their construction often drying-up because the demand is so volatile according to the state of the economy. This new design needs to be killed just like the old one.
For a more realistic before & after glimpse of how station platforms will look, we only need to visit Victoria Station and compare the platforms buried under a building to those that aren’t.
I feel especially bad for anyone who has to commute into the station over the coming 5+ years!
So in other words… Liverpool Street.
Lots of the moaners and NIMBYs complaining about this never actually use the station. It’s awful. And only getting worse. Hopefully these plans will be approved and underway sooner rather than later to try and save a grotty, crowded and depressing station.
As a commuter from Suffolk , I love Liverpool Street Station. It is a Station first, not the foundations for an Office Block, and yes it needs improvement in disabled access and getting rid of the shops and gantry over the ticket barriers.And better lifts for the disabled, and directions for those with disabilities . And this could be accompanied for a relative small sum, well within the current Network Rail budget
It is the loss of daylight over the concourse which concerns me most.
To quote Prof. Vincent Scully “ we now enter the station like gods:we will enter like rats”.
As far as I can tell new plan still involves building over the 1990s element of the train shed roof. This glass and steel structure lets a lot of light into the main concourse below and provides a focus for those leaving our arriving. It’s basically a big, grand atrium and gives the station a real sense of place. This was recently and quite rightly listed by Historic England and it’s loss would be shame.
The new design is barely an improvement over the old one. The assumption that the only way to maintain a train station (or any other heritage building) is by placing an office block on top is flawed. Furthermore the proposed design makes the areas beneath the office block dark and unwelcoming.
It also appears that Network Rail intends to cover half the station with a raised shopping mall – a repeat of the issues at Victoria Station. It’s astonishing that Network Rail would propose such a scheme, given their consistent mismanagement at Victoria. The platforms for the LGW Express beneath the shopping mall are a disgrace: leaks, ceilings covered in protective sheeting, broken lights, and pervasive dirt – and nothing ever seems to improve.
Many London rail terminals could be simply improved by removing the cash-cow commercial clutter. Network Rail aims to capitalise on commuters at the expense of commuters by making stations difficult to navigate by installing irritating/needless shops and stalls. OK, NR needs to raise funds, but it has a wealth of airspace that it could build over, while leaving the stations unobstructed and safe. Charing Cross is a good example.
Just to point out that if, as you claim Warnie, these retail units are nedless how is it that they continue to trade for years.they can only do this if they make money and they can only do this if people use them and therefore are not therefore “needless”
i am delighted that the first plan has been scrapped
The tactics all so predictable. Deserves to fail too.
The insides of the previous design looked a lot better imo. Creating a full second level would have meant more space
“A new office building on top of the station concourse …” – will CUT OFF ALL THE LIGHT – won’t it?
And there is nothing really wrong with the current Bishopsgate entrance that another pair of escalators couldn’t fix, either. { Thank you to Tim BG, too. }
I was one of the over 2000 objectors, last time & I will be objecting again.
Kevin D
Exactly.
We really do not need more office space, with “wfh” becoming so common, do we?
Chris
I suggest you go & live in central Leeds, if you hate civilised transport facilities so much.
Or, maybe down a disused mine, if you hate daylight?
Drew
I am going to risk Ian’s wrath & call you a liar.
I’ve been using Liverpool Street for over 70 years, so there.
Come on NG. Do you really think Stephen Fry, Tracy Emin, and those from the Victorian Society are using the station every day? You’re deluded if you think so. They’re not interested in what the average person has to tolerate through no choice of their own, when using this station. And if your suggested age is anything to go by, can’t image you are commuting in between the hours of 6-9am, and back again later in the day?
To say it’s an improvement over the previous proposal is probably a low bar to achieve.
Network Rail also leading the plans is also a welcome change. In the past year or so they’ve been pressing ahead with basic improvements within the station, such as an additional lift and the removal of shops from the gate line. It was almost as if someone within Network Rail had been sticking two fingers up at the previous development plans.
The devil will however be in the details of what is actually proposed. The current imagine of what is imagined is deliberately artistic (watercolour-like), rather than realistic computer generated images. This along with lack of more detailed information makes it difficult to judge at this stage.
What a stupid idea. Yet more concourse built over the top of platforms. Look at platforms 12 to 18 at Liv St they are a disaster. Squeezed in low ceiling claustrophobic.
Next why are we getting rid of the food stalls by th3 platforms ? Since Lesser Anglia keep putting on trains with no catering facilities on the Ipswich/Norwich. Grabbing a sandwich, noodles or pies (why has the Paste shop shut ?) is vital. Same as why is it a benefit to remove WH Smith’s ? Another source of food, water etc. Stop putting massive Cafe’s above the platforms, it’s a commuter station, we want quick in quick out, grab food as you go. We also don’t want 5yrs of chaos and another excuse for Lesser Anglia not to run trains at Weekends for the 25th year in a row. There’s plenty of office space yards from Liv St that’s empty this is another massive white elephant. .
Bemused by all the comments so far. I have to agree that the new proposal is only fractionally less objectionable than the old one.
WHY are yet more office towers needed at all? So many of them stand empty already, and post-Covid, this is never going to change.
Can’t the internal and external access to the Station be improved, and the huge, expensive, disruptive projects be shelved altogether?
There must be a creative architectural firm that could come up with a solution to the existing problems with the Station that would be aesthetically pleasing to both those of us who want to retain as much of the old, beautiful structure as possible (me, included), and those who want to improve certain aspects of the Station for daily users?
The ongoing problem here is: developers’ money talks, and that is the first consideration. It should not be!
“WHY are yet more office towers needed at all? So many of them stand empty already, and post-Covid, this is never going to change.” <-- they don't stand empty, and there's a shortage of modern office space in the City of London.
Stating the obvious-accepting the inevitable that money will drive a development-lets have a public design competition sponsored by the London Mayor-LIV STREET is now the busiest station in london with the introduction of the ELIZABETH LINE-it deserves some careful time/care and consideration – history proves we will get a better pragmatic and acceptable/sensible solution-which should enhance to a future historic tourist landmark e.g. GERKIN-LLOYDS BUILDING-LONDON EYE-OLYMPIC PARK-THE SAVED COVENT GARDEN-SHARD -ROYAL EXCHANGE.etc.
This scheme will not happen. So many flaws