Canary Wharf Crossrail Station: In Pictures

M@
By M@ Last edited 124 months ago
Canary Wharf Crossrail Station: In Pictures
How the finished station complex, designed by Norman Foster, will look.
How the finished station complex, designed by Norman Foster, will look.
Cross-section through Canary Wharf Crossrail. The top floor will include a public park, partially open to the skies. Several floors of shops are sandwiched between the platforms and park.
Cross-section through Canary Wharf Crossrail. The top floor will include a public park, partially open to the skies. Several floors of shops are sandwiched between the platforms and park.
View of the western end of the station.
View of the western end of the station.
Close-up of the vast air vents that will help regulate air conditioning and pressure.
Close-up of the vast air vents that will help regulate air conditioning and pressure.
Close up of the park roof.
Close up of the park roof.
A close-up of the larch roof.
A close-up of the larch roof.
Gaps in the larch and steel roof will allow trees to grow out of the structure.
Gaps in the larch and steel roof will allow trees to grow out of the structure.
Looking up to the HSBC Tower. One day, a mature tree will obscure this view.
Looking up to the HSBC Tower. One day, a mature tree will obscure this view.
On one of the retail floors. A vast atrium modestly called the mole-hole is used to transport materials up and down through the floors.
On one of the retail floors. A vast atrium modestly called the mole-hole is used to transport materials up and down through the floors.
The escalators to platform level are already in place, even though services won't run until 2018.
The escalators to platform level are already in place, even though services won't run until 2018.
Looking west-ward along the platforms.
Looking west-ward along the platforms.
The east-bound platform. The tunnel is concealed behind the screens on the right. When operational, floor to ceiling glass screens will separate the tracks from the platform.
The east-bound platform. The tunnel is concealed behind the screens on the right. When operational, floor to ceiling glass screens will separate the tracks from the platform.

It's still half a decade before passenger trains will slide through Canary Wharf Crossrail station. Yet the Norman Foster-designed complex is nearing structural completion.

Canary Wharf Group invested millions in building the station, which is longer than One Canada Square resting on its side. It needs to recoup costs, so the upper floors will open as shopping space in 2015, well ahead of the station beneath. 55% of the units have already been let.

Perhaps more appealingly, the top floor will contain a roof garden — essentially a public space, though privately controlled. The garden will sit beneath a larch and steel frame, with trees poking through the gaps. It's only half-built, and remains to be greened, but to see it up close is already a joy.

Down below, the station box is already fitted with marble flooring, escalators and interior cladding, even though nobody will see any of it until 2018 (we're told it was fitted early to capitalise on cheaper material costs during the recession, and so the site offices could be cleared quicker for further construction on North Quay). The tunnels were hidden from view on our visit, but both have now been bored through the station. Indeed, 23.5km of tunnel have now been dug, more than half the eventual 42km.

Click through the gallery above for more observations about the nascent station.

Last Updated 26 November 2013