18


to include a station at Stratford, even though funding for the western extent of the line beyond Ashford had not been confirmed at that time.


6


Time and space Physically and literally, the construction of the new high-speed rail line shaped the landscape of


the Stratford site. Over a three-year period, the tunnelling machines, which started at Stratford in 2002, dug their routes east and west under London, creating the twin bore tunnels for the future train line and depositing their spoil – approximately 3 million m3


of earth – on the site. Piling the soil on the rail lands served multiple functions. It avoided the phenomenal number of truck movements and associated costs that would have been required had it been moved to landfill; it lifted the site out of the Lea Valley flood plain – an increasingly relevant issue in Thames Gateway development; and it enabled new road connections to bridge over the railway tracks that continued to encircle and isolate the site. From a design perspective, it enabled the creation of a new landscape topography on the site, transforming the place from an unknown tabula rasa to one with distinctive orientation, scale and a relationship to context, both locally and more widely. Development partnerships bringing private- sector expertise were formed for each site along the line: at King's Cross St Pancras a consortium of LCR, Argent, St George and Exel was appointed; at Ebbsfleet, Land Securities took responsibility for the site; and at Stratford, a partnership of Chelsfield and Stanhope started to consider what might be possible. In each case, there was time to develop proposals.


Unlike so many locations in which a sense of urgency shapes development, in this instance there was no rush. The availability of land after the completion of railway work was many years away.


6. Wilkinson Eyre Architects Stratford


Regional Station 7. Aerial view showing


excavation work, which started at the site of Stratford International Station


7


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100  |  Page 101  |  Page 102  |  Page 103  |  Page 104  |  Page 105  |  Page 106  |  Page 107  |  Page 108  |  Page 109  |  Page 110  |  Page 111  |  Page 112  |  Page 113  |  Page 114  |  Page 115  |  Page 116  |  Page 117  |  Page 118  |  Page 119  |  Page 120  |  Page 121  |  Page 122  |  Page 123  |  Page 124  |  Page 125  |  Page 126  |  Page 127  |  Page 128  |  Page 129  |  Page 130  |  Page 131  |  Page 132  |  Page 133  |  Page 134  |  Page 135  |  Page 136  |  Page 137  |  Page 138  |  Page 139  |  Page 140  |  Page 141  |  Page 142