Project Overview

The goldsmiths, watchmakers, ironmongers and blacksmiths of Farringdon, Clerkenwell and Smithfields and the Brutalist architecture of the nearby Barbican Centre provide the context for the design of the new Farringdon station.

Organisation

Crossrail UK

Project Brief

Two new ticket halls are connected by underground mined platforms. The western end located on the corner of Farringdon Road and Cowcross Street will provide access to and from the Thameslink ticket hall.

The eastern end is bound by Charterhouse Street, Lindsey Street and Long Lane. This major transport interchange site has had to fit within a complex infrastructure network up to 25 metres below ground. The engineering and design challenges here have driven tailored design solutions such as lifts that move on a slope rather than the standard vertical movement.

In the eastern ticket hall, the design references the Barbican centre and the design of heavy metal sliding-screen gates has been derived from a barcode for ‘Farringdon’. In the western ticket hall influence is drawn from the nearby diamond and jewellery quarter. A material palette comprising champagne coloured stainless steel cladding and etched glass panels unify design at both ticket halls.

A pedestrian priority plaza will be created between the Elizabeth line and Underground ticket halls at the western end of Cowcross Street. The improved public space places priority on pedestrian flow and includes new trees, seating and widened footways.

When the route fully opens in December 2019, a train every two and a half minutes at peak time will allow passengers to travel all the way through to Paddington, Heathrow or Reading in the west and Shenfield or Abbey Wood in the east.

Project Innovation/Need

When the Elizabeth line opens in 2018 Farringdon station will be one of the busiest in the UK, connecting with Thameslink and the London Underground to provide links with outer London, the home counties, the City, Canary Wharf and three of London’s five airports.