Plans Submitted For Regeneration Of Liverpool Street Station
Plans have been submitted to build a 16-storey office and hotel building over Liverpool Street Station in central London. Construction Enquirer reports that the historic railway station would also be revamped, with an expansion of the existing concourse to more than twice its original size.
The plans have been drawn up by the Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron, who also designed the 2016 extension to the Tate Modern. The developers are Sellar, who were also the team behind The Shard and the London Bridge railway station.
The station concourse is owned by Network Rail, and in exchange for a £450m upgrade, Sellar would be permitted to develop the space above the station into a hotel and office block. The overall cost of the scheme would be £1.5bn.
Sellar chief executive James Sellar said the upgrades would be “essential” in encouraging people back to London. He added: “The plans will create one of the most sustainable destinations in the Square Mile, including a rooftop garden and City lido, both accessible to the public.”
He added: “The station is creaking. It’s of such an inappropriate quality for people arriving into one of the world’s greatest cities. We’re a global centre of finance, of business and innovation and yet you arrive into a station that’s not fit for purpose.”
Network Rail group property director Robin Dobson said the current station design from the 1980s “falls very short and needs to change”.
He added: “Our vision will guarantee that sustainable travel and an exceptional experience becomes the reality for future generations. We will move from an inaccessible and overcrowded station to one centred on people, ensuring an open, accessible destination for everyone.”
The scale and complexity of the project means that planning officials are expected to take up to a year to decide whether to allow it to go ahead or not. If permission is granted, the work is projected to take until 2029 to complete.
However, the plans have already met with objections from conservation groups including Historic England.
In a statement on their website, the Chief Executive Duncan Wilson said: “Liverpool Street Station is one of London’s great Victorian stations, with a distinctive and special character.”
It continued: “While we recognise the need for upgrades to the site so that it can better serve the millions of people that pass through its doors, these oversized and insensitive proposals are not the best solution to the site’s issues.”
We believe that this scheme is fundamentally misconceived and misses the opportunity to unlock real public benefits while also enhancing the station’s heritage. At Historic England we are in favour of development where it secures a sustainable future for our best public and private buildings. This scheme does not.”
“We continue to hope that collaboration with Network Rail and developers Sellar can achieve a better outcome for this special place.”
Sellar have emphasised that they do not intend to build over the Victorian train sheds, and would only demolish parts of the 1980s extension to the station.
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