Historic constraints
Holborn is a key interchange station on the London Underground network and is currently undergoing a £350 million redevelopment focusing on congestion relief, capacity enhancement and accessibility as well as public realm improvements and a significant over-site development. The station is at capacity and is often forced to close during busy peak periods, a situation which is exacerbated by its disorientating and undersized layout.
Future expansion to address this is constrained by historic modifications including: the disused Kingsway tramway tunnel, disused and partially decommissioned running tunnels, extensive piled buildings and basements, extensive buried services and utilities and a constrained urban realm set within a conservation area.
Re-using existing assets
Using our previous understanding of upgrading complex underground railway infrastructure, we looked holistically at the project and considered its wider ambitions. By challenging the project boundary and extending the parameters of the site additional project potential and value was unlocked.
Through our collaborative design process we worked with the client team and stakeholders to generate design options that were evaluated against robust and pre-agreed criteria. The proposals were then mapped in both 2D and 3D ensuring all options were spatially viable and constructability could be achieved.
We sought to use the underground constraints to the projects advantage proposing extensive re-use of the existing assets including re-instatement of a disused running tunnel as a low level passenger concourse and the use of the basement space beneath Procter Street for the construction of a new ticket hall. The final scheme provided new underground passenger interchange routes with an intuitive layout, easing wayfinding. We were able to introduce step-free access and interchange between all the lines.