[dwb]

The BBC magazine section has an article on how St. Pancras survived calls for demolition in that architecturally enlightened age - the '60s - cough, spit.... There's nothing special about the article /but/ I did like one of the pictures being used to illustrate the article - it's the one of a eurostar in the refurbished trainshed. I thought others might like it too, so follow this link to find out more.

David

 

[neil_s_wood]

St Pancras station was always one of my favourite buildings in London. It seems incredible that anyone could even consider knocking it down. Especially when you see some of the eyesores that they would most likely have replaced it with.

 

[John Webb]

The 'Railway Magazine' has published a similar picture recently as well.

I think the new platform canopies outside the Barlow train shed on the extended 'Eurostar' platforms are hideous and considerably detract from the said train shed, being thick and absolutely flat. They could, in my opinion, have been made much thinner, and if they had echoed the curve of the main roof less visually intrusive as well.
But the work on restoring the train shed looks very good otherwise.

It is actually my favourite station too, despite having used it for 8 years of regular commuting just prior to electrification.
Regards,
John Webb

 

[dwb]

QUOTE The 'Railway Magazine' has published a similar picture recently as well.

I subsequently found this photo on the High Speed 1 website. There are a few other photos there too.

David

 

[mikeg]

I think the new extension adds to the station, the roof is very slim for the span and looks good now its built. I worked for one of the contractors that lost the contract to build it and so saw the drawings long before any work started. I thought it would be an eyesore with all the glass and large steel sections, but looking at recent photo's I like it. The contractors have made a good job of the restoration work also considering the time and costs involved. I hope that Kings Cross turns out as well when that gets a makeover.

mike g

 

[7113]

QUOTE (neil_s_wood @ 23 Jun 2007, 08:49) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>St Pancras station was always one of my favourite buildings in London. It seems incredible that anyone could even consider knocking it down. Especially when you see some of the eyesores that they would most likely have replaced it with.

Well said Neil, I always loved it as well. It was always a favourite in my spotting days, well do I remember the peaks rumbling away under that wonderful roof. Of course if you want a concrete eyesore there's one only a few yards away - it's called Euston.

Regards

John

 

[Brian Considine]

QUOTE (BRITHO @ 25 Jun 2007, 13:29) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Of course if you want a concrete eyesore there's one only a few yards away - it's called Euston.

Regards

John

Looks like we will be getting our very own concrete eyesore in Margate soon - The Tuner Centre ! - straight out of the House of Lego.
I reckon a certain member of the Royal Family would call it "A Hideous Carbunkal".

 

[7113]

QUOTE (dbclass50 @ 25 Jun 2007, 14:23) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Looks like we will be getting our very own concrete eyesore in Margate soon - The Tuner Centre ! - straight out of the House of Lego.
I reckon a certain member of the Royal Family would call it "A Hideous Carbunkal".

There's nothing wrong with Lego, as a childs toy.....you can of course buy a commercial form of lego which is used for making mock ups of proposed buildings. I used it many years ago when I worked for a well known chemical company.

dbc50 - is TUNER a well known artist?

Regards

John

 

[Brian Considine]

QUOTE (BRITHO @ 25 Jun 2007, 16:56) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>There's nothing wrong with Lego, as a childs toy.....you can of course buy a commercial form of lego which is used for making mock ups of proposed buildings. I used it many years ago when I worked for a well known chemical company.

dbc50 - is TUNER a well known artist?

Regards

John

Sumtimes my speeling is as bad as yors !

 

[neil_s_wood]

Over here most of the buildings are straight out of legoland. You can see the odd proper building but they are few and far between. The main local service railway station is not bad though.

Flinders street station

 

[7113]

QUOTE (neil_s_wood @ 25 Jun 2007, 23:38) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Flinders street station

That's one colurful building Neil. In some ways it reminds me of one of the Vollmer kits, although I can't remember which one. Have you any idea who the builders were?

As an aside, is that overhead for a tram system in the foreground?

Regards

John

 

[neil_s_wood]

QUOTE (BRITHO @ 26 Jun 2007, 22:28) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>That's one colurful building Neil. In some ways it reminds me of one of the Vollmer kits, although I can't remember which one. Have you any idea who the builders were?

As an aside, is that overhead for a tram system in the foreground?

Regards

John
Hi John I found this on wikipedia regarding it's building,

QUOTE In 1882 the government decided to build a new central passenger station to replace the existing ad-hoc construction. A world-wide design competition was held in 1899, with 17 entries received. The £500 first prize went to railway employees J. W. Fawcett and H. P. C. Ashworth, whose design included a giant dome and clock tower. Work began in 1901 and ended in 1910.

Rumours persist that the design for Flinders Street Station was originally designated for Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus in Mumbai, India. However, no convincing evidence, other than architectural similarities to other buildings in their respective cities, has been produced to support the rumour.

The paint job is pretty similar to Victoria Terminus in Bombay now they mention it.

Yes those are overhead tram lines. These are the ones that go from Swanston st down to St Kilda Rd. They have a St Kilda here too, bit more densely populated than the original though.

 

[Brian Considine]

QUOTE (BRITHO @ 26 Jun 2007, 13:28) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>That's one colurful building Neil. In some ways it reminds me of one of the Vollmer kits, although I can't remember which one.

It certainly does has a "Vollmer look" about it, although, for some strange reason it reminds me a a lighter, brighter version of Harrods !

 

[neil_s_wood]

QUOTE (dbclass50 @ 27 Jun 2007, 16:05) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>It certainly does has a "Vollmer look" about it, although, for some strange reason it reminds me a a lighter, brighter version of Harrods !
It does look a bit like Harrods doesn't it, well after you take off a couple of floors. We better not give Al Fayed ideas!

 

[7113]

Thanks for the details on the building and trams Neil. Very useful.

Isn't St Kilda the red light district?

Regards

John

 

[neil_s_wood]

QUOTE (BRITHO @ 27 Jun 2007, 22:38) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Thanks for the details on the building and trams Neil. Very useful.

Isn't St Kilda the red light district?

Regards

John
Over here it is.

 

[John Webb]

I noted from the coverage today of the first Eurostar train with passengers to reach St Pancras that the lovely iron work of the Barlow arch has been left in what looks like a grey undercoat! What a loss of impact from the more colourful general blue and yellow on the details that it used to have. Come on, folks! Out with the paint brushes and put the colour back into it!
The roof, however, looks spendid with the restoration of the glass to much more of the roof than in the recent past.

Regards,
John Webb

 

[7113]

I thought from what I could see on the box that overall the refurbished/rebuilt/modernised/new St Pancras has not turned out as badly as i feared. Personally I thought that the grey made it appear much lighter and airier.

Regards

 

[John Webb]

It's not as bad as I originally feared either, and certainly the large area of glass helps to make it light and airy - but the grey on the arches does make my eyes think they've forgotten the top coat! May be because I commuted through there from 1969-1977 and got to know it quite well despite the general degree of dirt and grime that then coated it.

Bearing in mind it is a Grade 1 listed building I am am a little surprised English Heritage has allowed the rather un-Victorian grey to be used.

Regards,
John Webb

 

[Brian Considine]

QUOTE (John Webb @ 5 Sep 2007, 19:49) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Bearing in mind it is a Grade 1 listed building I am am a little surprised English Heritage has allowed the rather un-Victorian grey to be used.

Regards,
John Webb

Personally, I think the grey looks quite good & does create a good feel of space.

At the end of the day colour can easily be changed - the main thing is the building is still there & maybe that's the way English Heritage look at it - as well as the fact that they could not really have dis-allowed un-Victorian trains either !