Railtrack Property - Industrial Development - London W1, Paddington Station
Date: 18 Sep 2001
Railtrack Property has submitted revised proposals to Westminster City Council for Phase Two of its regeneration of Paddington Station. The modified plans represent a response to feedback from the council and to the issues raised during liaison with bodies including English Heritage, CABE, Transport for London, London Underground, the Strategic Rail Authority, the Railway Heritage Trust, the Victorian and Twentieth Century societies and local amenity groups.
Railtrack's proposals represent the single most significant investment in public transport and operations at Paddington since Brunel's original station was built in the mid 19th century. They will provide essential additional train capacity and significantly improve public transport interchange and passenger facilities. A new, larger concourse will ease the flow of passengers in the station - currently running at between 80,000 and 100,000 per day and set to rise - and the introduction of a dedicated traffic management deck will resolve the current traffic congestion problems around the station. The scheme includes the creation of a fifteenth platform and the lengthening of platforms currently outside the station; a newly designed entrance on London Street linking the station with Paddington Basin; improved passenger links to the underground, buses, taxi services and the surrounding Paddington area; and enhanced links with the nearby A40.
Without impacting on the 1850s Brunel-designed station, Phase Two will deliver a 70,000 sq m (780,000 sq ft) flagship commercial development. Overall, the scheme will create a link to other major development sites in Paddington Basin, opening up the north east side of the station and providing a stunning new canal side concourse.
Key amendments to the proposals since the June 2000 submission include:
- The preparation of a transport interchange masterplan.
- Additional transport improvements that will enhance connections with tube, bus, coach and taxi services.
- A reduction in the proposed height of the commercial development to 25 storeys (110 metres) in line with new guide heights for the Paddington area.
- A review of the massing of the buildings.
- Additional evidence that the proposed removal and replacement of Span 4 and the London Street deck satisfies listed building criteria set out in PPG15 and will deliver substantial benefits to the community in the Paddington area and London as a whole.
The Strategic Rail Authority has identified the proposals for Paddington Station as being key to the improvement of east-west rail travel, and to achieving a public transport system that help to sustain London's economic growth. The scheme will bring major benefits locally to the Paddington community and nationally and internationally to the hundreds of thousands of people travelling to London via Paddington each year.
Designed by architects, Nicholas Grimshaw & Partners, the Phase Two proposals complement Isambard Kingdom Brunel's original vision for the station - creating a majestic cathedral-like internal space that is both functional and monumental. The proposals will see the re-introduction of natural light to the north of the station for the first time in 85 years.
Helen Gordon, director of development at Railtrack Property comments, "Our plans for Paddington complete the award-winning work we started in 1996 to deliver a station for the 21st century. The scheme reflects a key thrust of the government's sustainable development policy - high quality, high density development at major transport interchanges.
"We have consulted widely over the last seven months and we strongly believe that our amended proposals address all the issues that were raised during those consultations. We now look forward to delivering the station that Paddington and London deserves."
Work on Paddington could begin as early as 2003 and be completed by 2007. Railtrack is a founder member of the Paddington Regeneration Partnership set up to establish Paddington as a premier business and residential district.
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