Refurbishment
David Watts describes how the architecture, wayfinding system and needs of the travelling public are being integrated as never before at London Bridge
O
ne of the most remarkable station transformations, London Bridge will be at the heart of the fashionable new
London bridge Quarter – towered over in one direction by western Europe’s tallest building – the Shard, and hyper-trendy Bermondsey Street with its White Cube Gallery and Fashion and Textile museum in the other.
One of the UK's largest and most complex transport hubs, the station currently brings around 50 million passengers into the city, and when it is finished in 2018 it will feature the largest concourse in the UK, creating 66 per cent more space, with new retail and station facilities. For the first time, the concourse will unify the station so that passengers will be able to access all platforms by lift or escalator from one place. With entrances on Tooley Street and St Thomas Street, connections to and between the surrounding areas will be improved. Likewise the tube and bus links. A core value of the project is the consideration of people throughout all stages of the design, with the aim of making London Bridge the most user- friendly station in the UK, and possibly Europe. The objective is to enable the 90 million passengers of the future to move through without bottlenecks and
overcrowding, even during times of unexpected disruption.
Control room is vital link
A new control room will be the vital link in ensuring the smooth running of the station. Already at the design and development stage, the process has involved the construction of a full-size mock-up - an approach that's preferred to using pure computer modelling because it allows issues to be identified in a real environment. The initial design took inspiration from Network Rail’s best practice sites including Manchester, King’s Cross, St Pancras and Reading, and was tested by control room staff using a number of challenging operational scenarios.
The tests looked at aspects such as desk sizing, screen viewing angles, operator comfort and space optimisation and the resultant staff comments are being incorporated into the final design to create the best-possible working environment.
Human factors thinking For passengers, one of the key elements to achieving the highest levels of customer satisfaction will be the wayfinding system, which is being created using human factors thinking. If passengers get lost,
can’t find their way or lack a sense of the structure of the station space, stress levels increase and the experience is negative. The aim is to get people in, around and through the station in a way that creates a much better experience for everyone. There are some major challenges at London Bridge, with the main concourse at a different level to the platforms; multiple entrances; a separate smaller
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