london bridge station completes £1 billion redevelopment

a team including global architecture firm grimshaw has completed ‘london bridge station’ — a major railway terminus in the UK capital. the £1 billion redevelopment has completely transformed the station, catalyzing the london bridge quarter and connecting millions more passengers to the city’s transport network. construction started in 2013, however, due to a modular design technique with off-site construction, the station remained open throughout the project.

UPDATE: this project won the ‘transport – completed buildings’ category at the 2018 world architecture festival.

image © network rail, all other images © paul raftery

the opening concludes the final chapter of the station’s redevelopment, which has been a collaborative effort between engineers arcadis and WSP, who partnered for a joint venture, and architects grimshaw, main contractor costain, and network rail. according to the team, the scheme comprises two key architectural concepts.

‘london bridge station’ is a major railway terminus in the UK capital

the first includes the addition of an expansive concourse and civic space that can accommodate increased passenger numbers and facilitate a quicker and easier interchange. a new concourse — 80m wide and 165m long — forms a space that both accommodates 50 million annual journeys and creates an environment where visitors can spend time in between travel.

the £1bn redevelopment has completely transformed the station

the second concept was to design with construction in mind. as london bridge is a major interchange, only two platforms at a time could be removed. consequently, grimshaw designed the scheme to be modular and constructed off-site wherever possible. this method can be seen in the development of the roof as a series of ribbons which comprise 1,200 pre-fabricated cassettes. the canopies are designed to be read as one structure with unifying roof lights in the concourse that signal the importance of the space.

as a result of a modular design technique, the station remained open throughout the project

‘the successful delivery of london bridge station is a highly complex feat of design and engineering,’ explains mark middleton, partner at grimshaw. ‘as architects, our vision for the station was to create a great civic space that connected two communities, and respected its victorian heritage whilst providing a modern, functional and enjoyable experience for train passengers. it is a bold scheme, and its below track concourse is not only unique but also the largest in our country; it is a transformational project for southwark and for london.’

an expansive concourse can accommodate increased passenger numbers