Planned improvements around Centre Point

[gothicform]

first up - public plaza by stanton williams et al. note the removal of the underpass and "water feature".
http://www.skyscrapernews.com/news.php?ref=1669



new tube entrances. access shafts are angled to provide extra views looking up from underground towards the tower



adding canopies along tottenham court road by woods bagot



and of course, we all already know of st giles court under construction near by

[Zenith]

To be applauded. These details at ground level are what really makes a differnce to peoples lives. Centre point will be transformed.

[wjfox]

Looks a million times better. These improvements can't come soon enough.

[DarJoLe]

An improvement, but woefully underwhelming for what will be the centre of London's main transport hub interchange.

[eXSBass]

Navigating around centre point now is a great mess, especially with that bus station under the tower.
Saying that, the design for the tube entrance could be much better, although, it's a great step forward from whats currently there.

[LiamF1]

Originally Posted by DarJoLe

An improvement, but woefully underwhelming for what will be the centre of London's main transport hub interchange.

Totally agree. It's much better than what's there now, but fairly uninspiring to say the least.

[aclifford]

It would be so much better if they could demolish that ugly residential block behind Centre Point and build the new station there. But these improvements still look good as long as they don't do them on the cheap.

[Octoman]

Well its a huge improvement on that stagnant bond filled with hypodermic needles currently there thats for sure. It is a little understated I agree but I'm not sure how they could have come up with anything more imposing at street level given the limited scope for demolition around it.

Canary wharf is little more that a glass entrance canapy at street level and yet is one of the most impressive stations on the entire network so it is possible to do something grandwith limited structure above ground . Fingers crossed they pull it off here too.

[Officer Dibble]

This has been desperately needed for decades. What's the status - just proposals? Any idea of timescale?

[gothicform]

centrepoint improvements will be done for 2012 unless boris fucks with it -
http://www.skyscrapernews.com/news.php?ref=1669

[DarJoLe]

Originally Posted by gothicform

centrepoint improvements will be done for 2012

Incredibly unlikely; the Tottenham Court Road Crossrail presentation at the Building Centre has this stage as being the one during the Games.

image hosted on flickr


A nice big giant hole.

[london lad]

I heard the development wont be complete until 2017, although buildings such as the Astoria could be demolished as early as the first half of next year.

[DarJoLe]

The whole set of phases is provided by ianvisits here:

http://flickr.com/photos/ianvisits/s...7606350207824/

[gothicform]

Incredibly unlikely; the Tottenham Court Road Crossrail presentation at the Building Centre has this stage as being the one during the Games.

except the 2008 MIPIM had a display saying otherwise.

haha. i know ian, sort of.

[LiamF1]

Originally Posted by Octoman

It is a little understated I agree but I'm not sure how they could have come up with anything more imposing at street level given the limited scope for demolition around it.

Well, you can see on those plans that there is a large amount of structure being demolished to enable the works. In the first render new structures have replaced them and so there isn't really a change in the space available (apart from the road being pedestrianised).
Shame that one of the blocks couldn't be left as open space or even for a free standing sculptural entrance structure, but I guess they can't for commercial reasons - shame.

[DarJoLe]

Originally Posted by gothicform

except the 2008 MIPIM had a display saying otherwise.

Gosh. The people behind Crossrail must be lying then.

[fitz44]

Thanks for that gothic - interesting.

The pedestrianisation of St Giles High St where it meets Charing Cross Road (red arrow) is to be welcomed and will go a long way to improving the area at a single stroke. However its real success or otherwise will depend on how the new buildings address the space. This building ( green X) has been in a poor state for a long time but the lack of redevelopment here may turn out to be a blessing in disguise if they can come up with a design that responds to the new "piazza" with a bit of imagination.

Personally I'm not that impressed with the Stanton Williams station entrances - I think they relate poorly to Centre Point and are more concerned with providing a "desire-line" route (blue) directly out of the new piazza and down to Covent Garden. Strange to create a new public space and then encourage people to walk straight through it! Hopefully they will continue to tweak this aspect of the design.

[DarJoLe]

The building with the green X you have marked will be demolished to allow for the diversion of Charing Cross Road and replaced once the piazza is built.

[ShavenHeaden]

TfL pages with information about the improvements is here - http://www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/proj...nges/2355.aspx - with this given as the timescale:

Proposed timeline of works

Underway
Thames Water mains upgrades and utilities diversion works.

July 2008 - November 2008
Preparatory works to allow building of new ticket hall.

January 2009 - summer 2009
Demolition and construction starts. Bus diversions and some traffic diversions begin.

Summer 2009 - spring 2010
Completion of demolition work.

Spring 2010 - summer 2016
Construction of station takes place.

2013
New station piazza entrance to LU station opens.

2014
Charing Cross Road partially re-opens and the second station entrance opens.

2015
New piazza created and other pedestrian access finished and the final station entrance opens.

2016
New station finished.

2017
Crossrail services begin.
Please note these dates are indicative only and may be subject to change.

[Jamandell (d69)]

Looks great...but would it kill you to use a capital letter at all goth?