Flexibility key to unlocking development potential at Crossrail Place

Tim Worsfold
12 July 2015

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The Crossrail station over site development at Canary Wharf was always planned to open three year’s ahead of the railway and sets a new benchmark for how rail can create a sense of place says Arup’s Tim Worsfold.

The recently opened Crossrail Place is a major new retail and leisure destination at Canary Wharf and is the first public realm to open as a result of the Crossrail network, which is currently in construction. As well as shops, restaurants, a cinema and one of London’s largest roof gardens, the building will house the concourses, platforms and ticket halls for the new Canary Wharf Crossrail Station.

We only have to look at Kings Cross and St Pancras Stations to see that stations are now becoming destinations in their own right, but this project really flipped that idea on its head.

"Sitting above and separate to the station, which has a 100 year design life, the multifunctional space, retail units and rooftop garden can be radically changed, reconfigured or even entirely removed without any structural obstacles or disruption to the operation of the station below."

From the outset, Crossrail Place was planned to open three years ahead of any scheduled train services. Our task was to create a ‘place making’ destination which would attract visitors well before Crossrail train services commenced and to take advantage of the over site development opportunity that the station provided.

Working with Canary Wharf Contractors, whose knowledge of the area and its incumbent challenges is unmatched, Arup developed and led the detailed design for the fully submerged station and provided full multidisciplinary engineering and specialist technical and design services for the multi-level retail and public garden development above the waterline.

Over the past thirty years, Canary Wharf has transformed from a derelict site to thriving business and residential district. When the station was initially commissioned in October 2007, it became clear that the most suitable location for the underground station was the North Dock which offered opportunity to not only increase Canary Wharf’s transport capacity but also provide much needed additional space and enhance the underdeveloped northern part of the estate.

Surrounded by some of London’s most valuable properties, planning approvals required that the construction didn’t disrupt neighbours, which include four major bank headquarters. A silent piling system was used to minimise noise during construction. Innovative interlocking joints then created a watertight perimeter wall. With this in place, the dock water was drained out before the station was built inside the walls.

The station and the building above it, although connected by geography, are actually two entirely separate entities. The station has a very clear use and identity, but the rationale for the over site development was slightly more ambiguous. While retail was seen to be the obvious conclusion, the planning for this was during a period that included the recent recession and the opening of the nearby Stratford City development. Consequently, the over site development was designed to accommodate various uses over the lifetime of the station.

In response to the brief, we designed Crossrail Place to be the ultimate in flexible spaces. This may seem like a simple enough task but it certainly bought its own set of challenges. Sitting above and separate to the station, which has a 100 year design life, the multifunctional space, retail units and rooftop garden can be radically changed, reconfigured or even entirely removed without any structural obstacles or disruption to the operation of the station below.

We crafted a framework that was completely modular allowing for the easy installation of access points and basic infrastructure services in a way that wouldn’t affect the main structure. Even during construction, a re-design of column placement meant that we created an extra 30 per cent of floor space. As a direct result, this extra floor space has allowed for Crossrail Place to host a range of tenant types including retail, restaurants, and cinema in addition to a full scale health centre.

The station and over site development are crowned by the striking timber lattice roof which, at 310 metres long, is the longest continuous timber roof in the world. Directly under this sits the beautifully landscape roof gardens, which is a naturalistic green haven and offers visitors a totally new vantage point to look out across the water and the surrounding area.

Crossrail Place is a modern example of how investing in infrastructure can bring benefits to an area far beyond added transport capacity. Through a well-designed flexible space we can best serve the area around us to match our ever changing needs.

Tim Worsfold is Arup’s project manager on the Canary Wharf Crossrail Station and Crossrail Place development.