The OFFICIAL Broadgate Tower/201 Bishopsgate construction thread (165m)

[Peyre]

Originally Posted by SuomiPoika

I`m shocked by how ugly the architecture around the site is. This is after all central London!

you have to see it close up to appreciate the architecture.

[jimbo]

Originally Posted by Jonny 5

The main tower will have 2 thin cores at the back and the rest will be steel framed.

cheers for that Jonny. The new renders look superb and I especially like the glass roofed atrium. Reminds me of CityPoint where I normally pick up my lunch! Could see definate Pret, Corney & Barrow and Wagamamas type outlets opening in there.

This one has gone from announcement, through planning and into construction in what seems like less than a year. Good on yer British Land!

[Madman]

Originally Posted by SuomiPoika

I`m shocked by how ugly the architecture around the site is. This is after all central London!

Its not really central London as the tourists see it (they would regard probably the West End as the centre of London), more the edge of the business district veering on into the poorest areas of the capital.

[potto]

Originally Posted by SuomiPoika
I`m shocked by how ugly the architecture around the site is. This is after all central London!

Originally Posted by Peyre

you have to see it close up to appreciate the architecture.

You also have to realise that this is where the edge of the City meets the East which has always been Londons scruffy area. The boundary of the City has never had a natural seemless fusion with the neighbouring North, South and East boroughs (the City was originally walled!); Canary Wharf take note!

ACtually I like the feel of the boundary that you get and the feel of localities in london in general and this development will provide an appropriate gateway. Perhaps they could enhance this by tidying the hinterland rather than leave it to decay so it becomes ripe for redevelopment.

[maxxam80]

yeah that boundary is my area

[jef]

I thought the tower is to be built above railways but I don't see them now they are demolishing the ground. I only see ... water! There are now 8 separate swimming pools.

[Jonny 5]

The railway lines go under the set of holes in the middle of the site.



You can see how they line up with the bridge.

[jef]

So there are no railways under the bassins? Demolition is going quickly.

[Fragmentor]

It would be really cool to have a station there, of course its not possible but if the tower was much higher and more of a lankmark it would be something they could maybe do of Liverpool street wasnt so close

[Cranesetc]

Actually the railway lines begin to spread out under the site as they split into the approaches to the many platforms at Liverpool Street.

WWW

http://www.cranesetc.co.uk

[jef]

Thanks. Are you working on site?

[potto]

Originally Posted by Fragmentor

It would be really cool to have a station there, of course its not possible but if the tower was much higher and more of a lankmark it would be something they could maybe do of Liverpool street wasnt so close

THere was actually a cluster of stations around here, Liverpool Street Station, Bishopsgate and Broad Street. I recall one smaller station surviving unused until the Broadgate complex was built cant remember its name though..

Ah it was Broad Street:

http://www.eastlondonhistory.com/bishopsgate.htm

"Bishopsgate is a legacy of an era when railway was the future, and the railway barons didn't just build big ... but gargantuan. And it was part of a trio of termini in the area who never quite lived up to their billing. Bishopsgate, Broad Street and Liverpool Street were the three great stations jostling for space on the eastern edge of the City. Today only Liverpool Street remains.

In the mid-1800s, London was undergoing massive redevelopment and expansion. Existing housing was demolished wholesale to bring the new railway lines into the capital, and they in turn brought in more people, new Londoners swelling the city even more. Spitalfields was no exception, and from 1839 an enormous site, 10 acres at the north of Brick Lane, was set aside for London's second railway terminus, following Euston to the north.

The oldest part was the Braithwaite Viaduct, whose listed arches Prince Charles is now fighting so hard to save. The area is slated for demolition and redevelopment. And the plan is that it will make way for the East London Line extension and office building.

Almost from its beginning, Bishopsgate struggled to find sufficient business to be profitable. And by the time much of the building was destroyed by fire in 1964, only a small part of the station was still being used.

Unwelcome competition was soon to arrive in the shape of Broad Street. The station was built in 1865 as the North London Railway terminus. The idea was that Broad Street would be the starting point for goods from the docks, en route to the Midlands.

But even before the building was finished the Victorian developers (who were stronger on ambition than planning) realized that with one goods station already struggling in the area, a second wasn't such a bright idea. Broad Street was swiftly converted to passenger traffic. And in 1900, it was second only to Euston and Liverpool Street in passenger numbers. Liverpool Street, however, was Broad Street's downfall. The numbers never stacked up and the station shut in 1950. It slowly rotted until eventual demolition in 1984. Now the Broadgate development stands on the site"

[DarJoLe]

I posted some Broad Street stations pics last week, they're around somewhere.

[nick_taylor]

Firstly what is that white/blue castle like structure and secondly has anyone noticed that plot of land just waiting for something to go up behind this said structure? Also that strip of green and goldern autumn trees is the old approach into Broad Street and will eventually be converted into the East London Line.

[Jonny 5]

The "white/blue castle"is the Liverpool Street signal box, and the plot or land to the north is the Northgate/Norton Folgate site.

[scraper]

is norton folgate the one foster is working on now?

[Jonny 5]

Yes.

[Noostairz]

:anticipates excitedly:

the value of land in this area's gonna sky-rocket if big, shiny skyscrapers keep on popping-up. we, the uk scc army, should pool our money together and invest in a chunk of it, then sell it to a developer and make a bit of ka-ching out of our obsession.

i'll get us started with a fiver.

[mulattokid]

Thanks for all that info Potto that helps to get things into perspective. I remember the old Broad St Station from my youth, but i think it had already closed and was being used for some temporary reason (I mean in the late 70,s).

[gothicform]

another useless bit of info about broad street - paul macartney even named an album (and horrible film) after it. did they used to run serviceds from broad street to liverpool?