A new exhibition about London’s infrastructure opened recently in the Building Centre that shows off the three dominant challenges for the city in the decades ahead.
As with most of their exhibitions, this is mainly a collection of photos, drawings and explanatory text – along with a few 3D models of various bits of London construction sites.
Probably of most interest to construction geeks will be the trains and drains, which are literally as well as figuratively more concrete on concepts, whereas the plans are more speculative thinking about the future.
Expect a lot here about Crossrail – in fact it is the dominant theme of the trains section. A large number of cut-through drawings give you an idea of what some of the stations will look like underground — as do a few of the 3D models.
I was a bit surprised to read that while Crossrail will open in 2018, it could reach full capacity as soon as 2031 – just 13 years after it opened. Unsurprisingly, the exhibition makes an unequivocal call for Crossrail 2 to be approved as soon as possible.
While new concrete tunnels will carry humans hither and thither, other concrete tunnels are being constructed to carry away the results of human waste. The Lee tunnel is already under construction, and there is the controversial giant sewer running under the Thames.
It’s a small, but interesting display and worthy of a diversion if you are in the area. The exhibition closes on the 25th May.
The Building Centre is open Mon-Sat 10am-5pm and entry is free.
Thanks for this. Went purely as a result of this, and found much of interest.
There was a Exhibition Catalogue on display, which looked worthwhile, but no one at the Reception or Bookshop knew whether it could be taken away free, or had a price.