Major changes are proposed at our London railway terminus. The proposal would see the building of twin connected towers (16 & 21 storeys) over the top of Liverpool Street Station. The building work would extend into the Andaz Hotel (formerly the Great Eastern, built in 1884 and Grade II* listed) and to upgrade the station concourse. The 16 storey tower would include six new additional floors for the hotel, with a rooftop garden and swimming pool. The other tower would be largely commercial and is planned to enable the delivery of £450 million-worth of vital station upgrades resulting in an improved passenger experience and creating a ‘destination’ station (i.e. a shopping centre: 32 million people passed through the station last year).

Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron’s design opens-up the station and creates more concourse space. Should planning permission eventually be granted the whole project is likely to cost some £1.5 billion and take some eight years to complete. Importantly, it will not cost passengers, taxpayers or Transport for London (TfL) a penny. The scheme, being jointly proposed by Stella*, MTR** and Network Rail in conjunction with key stakeholders, TfL and Hyatt – owners of the Andaz Hotel – is out for public consultation.  

Historic rooms within the hotel, including masonic temples and the ballroom will become more accessible to the public, providing unique meeting, leisure and exhibition space. The roof garden and swimming pool will be open to the public. The space outside the station (Hope Square) will be transformed to improve the setting of the station.

JN

Architects visuals are shown on the back cover of this Newsletter and below:-

*Stella Property Development Company

**MTR: Mass Transit Railway Corporation; it operates the Hong Kong mass transit network and invests in other railways and railway property throughout the world including the Elizabeth Line (Crossrail).