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A new dawn for King’s Cross T
In among the daily London commuter bustle, many of us will have noticed the extensive improvements taking place at one of the capital’s busiest and most iconic railway stations, King’s Cross
Media Partners
he Grade 1 listed building, designed by Lewis Cubitt in 1852, is undergoing a significant
redevelopment programme in conjunction with English Heritage. Since work commenced in 2007, the
station has seen the addition of a new platform, a new concourse, restoration of the Eastern Range and the replacement of the historic Handyside bridge with an accessible footbridge. The final phase of redevelopment will
culminate in the unveiling of a 7,000 m2 square, bringing to the station an olde worlde splendour so often associated with railway travel of a bygone era.
Regeneration
The project has even inspired the transformation of the local environment. With 67 acres of brownfield land being redeveloped to create offices, retail space and residential accommodation, this is one of the largest regeneration schemes currently happening in Europe. The provision of cleaner, greener power has been a major driver in the regeneration of King’s Cross. Solar panels will generate ten per cent of the station’s energy requirements and a rainwater
recycling scheme already provides up to one third of the water used on the Eastern Range. On many occasions as night draws in
and the evening rush hour subsides, work is only just beginning for the contractors and engineers tasked with sensitively integrating the very latest in design and technology with the grand Victorian architecture of King’s Cross. Power solutions provider, Socomec was
delighted to be chosen to play a key role in the specification and installation of the Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) and emergency lighting systems at the station. Andrew Wilkinson, regional managing
director Socomec comments: ‘One of the greatest challenges within the King’s Cross project was to ensure that the architectural integrity of the building in which our engineers were working was safeguarded. Furthermore, it was vital that disruption to the station’s operation was minimised, and, therefore, to the thousands of people that use the station every day. Not only was the work being done with very restricted night time access, but it was also part of a much wider regeneration project. As you dash across the station to catch a train, it is
impossible to imagine the sheer scale of engineering and technology that is present within the existing infrastructure – even more incredible is the fact that the infrastructure was experiencing a constant state of flux with every manoeuvre within the project.’ Wilkinson goes on to explain: ‘All of
the survey details that were guiding the engineering team were ever-changing and access routes were altered regularly. Lift access was unreliable due to works going on in parallel to the installation, and stairways were for pedestrian use only, so Socomec’s teams had to be flexible and adaptable in order to successfully complete the installation. In preparing the relevant areas, it was discovered that most of the internal floors were not rated to support this type of equipment and had to be strengthened to accommodate the battery packs.’ Socomec delivered complete solutions
for both UPS and emergency lighting central power supplies for the Western Range Building and the Network Rail plant room.
Page 64 April 2013
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