The developers behind plans to rebuild part of Liverpool Street station with a large oversite office/hotel complex will be showing off the latest ideas in a couple of weeks time.
The plans are, to put it mildly, rather controversial.
(c) Sellar / Herzog & de Meuron
They will sweep away much of the 1980s rebuild of the station concourse, replacing it with a new two-floor design, which is needed to provide the structural support for a sizable building that will then sit above the station.
The reception to the proposal has generally not been positive.
The developers are pushing ahead though and as part of the public engagement, they will host another public exhibition to garner feedback.
This will be the third, and likely final, chance to see the plans before the developer submits a planning application to the City of London.
The consultation will be inside Liverpool Street station, at Broadgate end near the large Boots store.
It’ll be open from Monday 17th April to Friday 21st April between 4pm to 7pm, and on Saturday 22nd April between 10am to 1pm.
Model shown at the previous public exhibition
(c) Sellar / Herzog & de Meuron
(c) Sellar / Herzog & de Meuron
Surely, April 1st was last Saturday?
This is a very unfortunate air-rights project, overwhelming (literally) the fine red-brick Liverpool Street buildings, and demolishing much of the fine 1980s makeover of the station. Its not as if the profits will rescue a major rail investment project. Overall, Sellar did a good job with building the Shard and other buildings at London Bridge Station, but this project appears to have little architectural elegance, despite hiring Herzog and De Meuron. Very sad.
I can’t say I am a fan of the eastern half of the platforms though. Far too dark.
Not sure what you mean by “despite hiring Herzog and De Meuron”; Hedgehog and the Mekon are a firm well known for architectural INelegance.
In the face of public disapproval, how can the area’s Planners approve this monstrous disfigurement? I would like to voice my own disapproval at a higher level than the developers’ exhibit, but so far, cannot find the proper place to do so in writing. Can anyone help with this?
Please do the same, as a reader of this wonderful Blog? Thank you.
The prospect is absolutely horrific.
Speechless
I’m not a great fan of the main station entrances as they stand; they look like Victorian churches that nobody knows quite what to do with. The proposed entrance in the top illustration looks a whole lot better. Overall, though, the whole lot’s just another glass-box lump distinguished only by being out of scale with everything round it.
No. Just no. It’s disproportionate, disrespectful to its surroundings and history and so blatantly looks as if they didn’t bother: consider Herzog & de Meuron’s magnificent Elbphilharmonic in Hamburg or even the Tate Modern extension – where is their creative vision here?
Who wants a white fridge on a Victorian train station, what were they thinking?!
The only thing that looks almost acceptable is the entrance. The rest is too much of an overhanging box, too high and too wide, and of zero artistic or architectural merit…
rather controversial – is generous it is hideous – way way way too big and done for commerical gain – putting up a huge property space – the station and passengers are an afterthought thrown a bone with blah blah about more room etc. The only people who want and support this are the developers it is one of the worse develomnets I’ve seen in London in 20 years and thats saying something. It is truly awful.
I work just around the corner from Liverpool Street and have to say that this proposed development is totally out of all proportion. It looms over the existing buildings and even appears to have cantilevered floors to maximise the internal space together with the developers profits. It would be a hideous addition to the City skyline and should be rejected as completely out of keeping with its surroundings and impact on the Victorian station it will dwarf.