Victoria Station

 

Victoria Station

Our work at Victoria Station extends for over a decade. Listed at Grade II, Victoria is the second busiest railway station in the UK but suffers from a poor layout and tired facilities – the legacy of its historical development as two entirely separate stations, and 150 years of ad hoc development.

We were first appointed to Network Rail as lead consultant to prepare a masterplan to guide the future development and operation of the station. We were able to combine our urban design, transport, heritage and engineering skills to provide significant value for the client.

We were then commissioned by Transport for London to review the emerging development proposals for a large area to the north of Victoria Station. Our work comprised an urban and movement analysis with the starting point being a review of the historic development and an assessment of the role of the Victoria urban quarter within wider central London. A detailed appraisal considered existing issues regarding the movement of pedestrians, cyclists, buses, vehicles, taxis and coaches together with the impact of the Victoria Underground Station upgrade.

We subsequently worked alongside engineers Mott Macdonald on upgrade works to the Underground station, consisting of a new Ticket Hall, the extension of the existing Ticket Hall, new escalator shafts, and new tunnelled passageways. We advised on the impact of these works on the listed buildings in the area. The methodology for assessing the potential effects of ground movements due to tunnelling works on buildings has been developed and refined in recent years and LUL adopted a very similar approach to that used on the Jubilee line extension and Crossrail projects. Initial Following , analysis, assessments and the development of various mitigation proposals and protective measures, the LUL team were able to demonstrate that the predicted impacts were not significant. We were also instrumental in negotiations to obtain the agreement of English Heritage and the Local Authority and acted as expert witnesses at the Public Inquiry into the proposals.

Recently, we have returned as conservation and townscape specialists to advise on stage two of the ambitious Future Victoria concept. The scheme will tackle the legacy of the two separate stations and remove vehicles from Terminus Place in order to transform its efficiency and the experience of the travelling public.

Client: Network Rail/Transport for London/London Underground Limited
Architect: Various