CROSSRAIL 097
What have been the three biggest engineering challenges that the Elizabeth Line has faced and how were they overcome? T e complexity of designing/constructing a coordinated and integrated system threading 21km of tunnelling through a mass of subterranean obstacles such as foundations, utilities and existing tunnels without disturbing them or the buildings above, constructing the stations in tight urban sites with restricted access while London life continues.
What was the original vision for the Elizabeth Line project?
Seven principles have underpinned the design of the Elizabeth Line stations: • Identity: Deliver a consistent brand through a modern and contemporary transport mode, responsive to its local contexts.
• Clarity: Create an understandable environment for passengers from the start to the end of their journey. • Consistency: Implement a coherent line-wide design language, established
through common materials and component within the Transport for London family. • Inclusivity: Ensure the Elizabeth Line is for everyone. • Sustainability: A best practice design that minimises waste, maximises the materials’ qualities, reduces energy consumption and is cost-effi cient. • Security: Provide safe and secure design solutions. • People-focused: Designed to balance functional and people needs.
From left
Whitechapel’s new Elizabeth Line station sits on top of an existing station. The main concourse is above ground, while the rest of the station descends 30m underground. The design is intended to uplift and create positivity as passengers engage in their daily commute. The station has been built to last, with materials such as stone, granite and concrete. While the original exterior remains, the inside has been brought up to the standards of 2022
CASE STUDY WHITECHAPEL
The station architect for Whitechapel Station is Peter Jenkins from BDP. He said: ‘A key part of the project at Whitechapel was to think of a radical reorganisation of the way the station would work, taking a previous assumption that all the movement of people would be under ground and flipping that round so that the concourse is above ground.’ One of the biggest challenges at this key East End interchange was to build a new station while keeping the existing London Underground/ Overground station in operation. Jenkins told FX: ‘We couldn’t just put up a hoarding and so that kind of constraint influences your thinking and planning but the best designs come from having
constraints and gives a richness to the project.
So this is a new station but sits on top of an existing one and the very presence of what was originally a Victorian station was an inspiration and influenced the design of the interior.’
The original facade of the 1876 Whitechapel station remains but once inside, it is 2022 and what were once cramped ticket halls are light, bright, open to daylight on the sides in this surface level concourse with its robust materials, easy for maintenance and long-lasting. There is granite and stone flooring and concrete cladding. The curving sof its in the roof of the ticket hall are, says Jenkins, key to creating a sense of space and an aid to drawing people upwards towards the escalators.
Suspended above the East London Line, the station also acts
as a north/south bridge between two neighbourhoods that would otherwise have been split and divided by the railway line. On top of this bridge is a sedum roof that is a welcome splash of verdant relief in what is otherwise a relentless urban city scape though you will probably only see it if you are in one of the many surrounding higher buildings.
Jenkins says: ‘It’s a great
opportunity to incorporate greenery and soften the environment. It’s a traditional roof overlaid with soft material planting that will give diff erent textures and colours according to the seasons. It also has benefits such as drainage and controlling the water run-off from the roof.’
He says of the whole project: ‘The design impacts and aff ects the lives of many thousands of people
each day who use the building. It’s an opportunity to uplift their experience of going to and from work and to make it really positive.’
Crossrail has also worked with local authority London Borough of Tower Hamlets to help improve the local area near the station. This has involved a landscaped public square and cycle parking.
Step-free from street to platform 30m below ground 240m-platform length
99,000 estimated passengers per day (Elizabeth Line) 24 trains per hour (peak, each way)
Interchange: District, Hammersmith & City, London Overground
TOP RIGHT: JAMES O JENKINS
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