Second opinion: Euston station area, central London

Regeneration & Renewal, 5 September 2008

Euston: masterplan aims to stimulate debate

Name of scheme: Euston Estate Vision Masterplan.
Published: May 2008.
Commissioned by: Sydney and London Properties/Euston Estate Partnership.
Produced by: Atkins.

Scope/purpose: To generate interest and debate about the future of Euston station and its surroundings.

Marc Watterson comments: This masterplan offers a holistic proposal for Euston station and its surroundings. It follows previous work that focused on the station alone and failed to consider the space above and around in any great detail.

The plan starts with the strap-line: "Euston. More than a station." The report and the associated excellent movie shows how that could be delivered. It also states its main purpose as being to stimulate debate rather than to inform a planning application. I'm sure it will achieve its aim.

The document runs through the story of Euston, profiling its history and architecture through the eras. It looks particularly at how the station developed in the 1960s and the principles behind the "new" station created then.

Reaching the present, it points out how some of those principles have contributed to issues that now need to be overcome, such as an underground taxi rank, an uninviting public realm, poor visibility of the station from the surrounding area, safety and security concerns, inconvenient bus facilities and a lack of a below ground link to the nearby Circle underground line. Added to this are a host of technical constraints; not least the underground system, but also the current and future operational requirements of the mainline station, and the physical structures that any development above the station would have to build on.

The design approach is clear: above the station would sit an ambitious series of stepped blocks, incorporating housing, commercial, leisure, retail space, roof gardens and public open spaces. Strategic views across the city are respected; indeed the development would offer some great skyline views itself. This would all be fronted by a well-designed and welcoming public open space on Euston Road, leaving the station clearly visible.

The proposals for the station include an airport-style approach that separates arriving, departing, commuter and underground passengers to ease movement through the station. The taxi rank would move above ground and the bus station on to the street. The old taxi rank would form part of an expanded underground ticket hall, which will include new shops and be accessible from the gardens four storeys above. There will be a new underground link to Euston Square station, putting Euston on the Circle line and linking it directly to other key London stations.

I have concerns about the practicality and affordability of building such a development on top of live railway and underground stations while also maximising the potential benefits for the wider area. But if the principles of the masterplan, and even half of the proposals within it, are achieved, the new Euston will be more than a station.

- Marc Watterson is an associate at Taylor Young.