Canary Wharf Cross Rail Station
Sitting below a five-storey mixed-use development known as Crossrail Place, the new Canary Wharf station helps connect this key business district to the City of London, the West End and Heathrow. At the same time, it acts as a bridge between two communities – Canary Wharf Estate and Poplar to the north.
The 250-metre-long station box is surrounded by the water of West India Quay dock. Designing a station to be built 18 metres below water level presented significant design challenges but has resulted in optimum access to and through the Canary Wharf Estate while retaining a navigable channel for boats within the dock.
The station ticket hall is accessed via eight long-rise escalators from the promenade level entrances at either end of the building. A visual connection between the station platforms and the concourse level above is achieved through the use of large openings between the two floors and a central spine of vertical circulation reinforced by the use of colour and light. More than one hundred thousand square feet of retail and leisure space sits above the station.
A 310-metre-long timber lattice roof, sheltering a striking roof-top garden, lets in light and rain for natural irrigation. Translucent air-filled pillows allow direct views in and out of the building. Sustainably sourced beams provide a warm, natural counterpoint to the glass and steel towers of Canary Wharf.
