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HS2 design – think like the Victorians not the 1960s McLoughlin tells design community

Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin has confirmed the three principles for the design of HS2, taking a swipe at the “design disasters” of the 1960s and 70s in the process.

In a speech in London he underlined how people, place and time would be at the heart of all design for the new £50bn high speed rail line from London to the North.

“When we begin construction in two years’ time, we’ll be embarking on one of the biggest infrastructure projects Britain has ever seen,” he said.

“There’s a reason why much of our Victorian infrastructure is still standing while the design disasters of the 1960s and ‘70s are being torn down. So we will design HS2 once."

Work will involve 350 miles of track, new tunnels, bridges and viaducts, stations, and a new fleet of state-of-the-art high speed trains.

“Our railways have always been a canvas for design. Some of it stunning. Some of it less so,” McLoughlin said. “The Victorians built their stations as landmarks. Exhibition halls for the new technology of the train. A century later, as the railway faced increased competition from cars and planes, British Rail redesigned Euston to look like an airport departure lounge, with the trains deliberately hidden from view.”

But things have moved on, he believed.

“Once again the railways are inspiring brilliant, confident, ground-breaking design. You can see it at Kings Cross. St Pancras. Manchester Victoria. Birmingham New Street. And at Crossrail, which will set new standards for urban design.”

With the help of the design community the same will be true for HS2, he said.

“Because HS2 will define our time, just as the stations, tunnels and bridges of the Great Western Main Line define Brunel’s time.”

People, he said, had to be the first consideration of all HS2 design.

“Everything about HS2 must work well for the people who use it and live near it. It must be supremely functional. But also something people can be proud of.

“Our second principle is that of place,” he said.

“HS2 must bring economic regeneration to the places it serves, while also reflecting their distinctive characteristics. When George Gilbert Scott designed the Midland Grand Hotel at St Pancras, the materials and handiwork came from the Midlands. So it stands as a tribute to the region’s industry and enterprise.

We will have our own ideas today. But one thing’s certain. HS2 will not look like it could have been designed anywhere, and built in any city. “It will be distinctive,” McLoughlin said. “Rooted in the places it serves.”

The third principle is time, he said.

“HS2’s design must endure, become part of the fabric of the country. In design, short-termism is costly.

“There are plenty of mistakes on the rail network we can learn from. The dark spaces of the old Birmingham New Street station. The green canopy that for decades blighted the front of Kings Cross.

“There’s a reason why much of our Victorian infrastructure is still standing while the design disasters of the 1960s and ‘70s are being torn down. 

"So we will design HS2 once. And we will get it right. That means anticipating how HS2 will be used in future. How new technology will shape the way we travel. How passenger numbers and expectations will grow.

“HS2 will define our time, just as the stations, tunnels and bridges of the Great Western Main Line define Brunel’s time.”

He welcomed Sadie Morgan as chair of the project’s independent design panel.

“The panel will act as the project’s critical friend. Challenging, encouraging and inspiring,” McLoughlin anticipated.

“By the time HS2 is finished, the Victorian railways it will relieve will be nearly 200 years old. We can expect HS2 to last as those lines have lasted. And to shape our country as those lines have.”

He called on the design community to get behind the ambitions with their help, creativity and vision.

“So we can build a railway of which the country will be proud.”

 

If you would like to contact Jackie Whitelaw about this, or any other story, please email jackie.whitelaw@infrastructure-intelligence.com.