The Crown Estate Conservation Award - architeria.eu

ST PANCRAS INTERNATIONAL WINS THE CROWN ESTATE CONSERVATION AWARD


St Pancras International by Alastair Lansley (for Union Railways) has won the Crown Estate Conservation
Award 2008.

The announcement was made on Saturday 11 October at a special awards ceremony for the RIBA
Stirling Prize in association with The Architects' Journal at the BT Arena and Convention Centre in Liverpool.
The winning practice was presented with a cheque for £5,000 by Roger Bright, Chief Executive
of the Crown Estate.

The Crown Estate manages a large and uniquely diverse portfolio of land and buildings across the UK. One
of its primary concerns is to demonstrate that conservation is not a dry academic discipline; it is the practical
art of making yesterday’s buildings work for people today.

The design strategy for St Pancreas involved radical intervention – the removal of part of the floor to link
the pedestrian circulation in the undercroft (formerly a barrel store) to the train shed above - as well as
restoration of the majestic interior of the Barlow and Ordish train shed. It was a brilliant strategy
that intentionally establishes the magnificence of the architecture.

Speaking about the building, Roger Bright said:

Enormous care has been taken in restoring the original structure with scholarly reference to historic
documentation and skilful consultation and collaboration with the local planning authority, English Heritage
and other bodies. The establishment and maintenance of such relationships were critical to progressing
the project. The result is that the Barlow roof now lives up to its billing as the architectural and engineering
focus of the building – some would say the best example of its kind in UK railway architecture.

The other shortlisted buildings for the award were:

Theatre Royal, Bury St Edmunds by Levitt Bernstein Associates
The Listed Wind Tunnels, Farnborough by Julian Harrap Architects
De La Warr Pavillion, Bexhill-on-Sea by John McAslan & Partners
Royal Festival Hall, London by Allies and Morrison

ST PANCRAS INTERNATIONAL

Architect: Alastair Lansley
Client: Union Railways
Contractor: Mike Whitfield Timber Framing
Contract value: £800million
Date of completion: November 2007 Gross internal area: 116,750 square metres

In a project of awe-inspiring scale and complexity, George Gilbert Scott’s station, one of the foremost
buildings of the Victorian age, has been transformed into the international rail terminus for London.

It has involved radical intervention – the removal of part of the floor to link the pedestrian circulation in
the undercroft (formerly a barrel store) to the trainshed above - as well as restoration of the majestic
interior of the Barlow and Ordish train shed. It was a brilliant strategy that intentionally establishes
the magnificence of the architecture.

The design strategy had both coherence and drama but its delivery was equally commendable. The
construction was undertaken in the context of enormous logistical complexity. The integration of a new
major transport terminus with the existing services was a huge challenge in both technical and architectural
terms. The architect had to create a routing system that gave the passengers directional clarity and clear
connections between Eurostar, the London Underground, East Midlands, First Capital Connect and
Southeastern rail services. There was a further ambition to make St Pancras a wonderful and memorable
destination in its own right, complete with the longest champagne bar in the world. What is more,
shopping and signage have been controlled in a way never seen before at a British transport interchange.

The regrettable destruction of the Midland Road elevation necessitated by the massive works to construct
the below-ground Capital Connect (formerly Thameslink) station, but its meticulous reconstruction
shows it is possible to recapture the qualities of the original if the work is carried out with sufficient
integrity of materials, detailing and workmanship.

CREDITS:
Text: The Royal Institute of British Architects