Liverpool Street Station

ACME is working with Network Rail Property to bring forward new proposals for Liverpool Street Station. The new scheme is based on a thorough understanding of the operational needs of the station and its historic significance. 

Project Details +

Project Details

LOCATION: London

DATE: 2024 - Ongoing

CLIENT: Network Rail

STATUS: Planning Submitted

Credits +

Credits

Network Rail Property - Client team

ACME - Architecture

AECOM - Engineering & transport 

SLA - Landscape Architecture

SEAM - Lighting design

Mima Group - Inclusivity & wayfinding 

Certo - Project management

Newmark - Planning

Gleeds - Cost manager

Donald Insall Associates - Heritage & townscape

GIA - Rights of light

JLL - Valuation

AVR London - Visualisations

Shared Voice - Communications & engagement

Intelligent Data Collection - Pedestrian modelling

RWDI - Wind consultants

The Boundary - CGI views

Sweco - Building control advice

Plowman Craven - Surveys

Addelshaw Goddard - Legal

1875 - Station opens

1894 - Eastern extension

1990's Significant revamp

London Liverpool Street station is Britain's busiest station, connecting well over 100 million people a year within London and the southeast, with passengers forecast to grow to over 140 million a year by 2050. The new plans to redevelop the station will enable it to serve over 200 million passengers a year, significantly boost London’s economy and establish a landmark gateway to the City of London.

The recently submitted plans will turn Liverpool Street station into a destination in its own right with a new retail, leisure and workspace offer. The transformed station will improve connections to the wider City and public spaces, and provide a catalyst to deliver the City of London’s plans to secure long-term economic growth, prosperity and opportunity for London and beyond.

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Station Entrances

The proposed main entrance from Bishopsgate is designed as a grand invitation into the station. Inspired by traditional railway architecture, like the archways of King’s Cross, it creates a clear gateway articulated in brickwork at a significant civic scale.

The arched entrances create a sense of welcome and arrival for people passing through the station. In order to create as much open, uncluttered space as possible for the concourse, the minimum number of columns have been used, and everything that can be integrated into a columns has been integrated. Each of the columns carries structural loads, and the larger ones include passenger lifts, fire escapes, technical services and clear directional signage – ensuring the spaces are open, highly legible, accessible, and simple for passengers to navigate through.

Descending the escalators from Bishopsgate reveals the openness and spaciousness of the main station interior. Detailed brickwork adds articulation and refinement to surfaces of this covered civic space. Detailed modelling of pedestrian flows has informed the size and quantity of stairs, lifts and escalators to ease the anticipated future congestion levels during the AM and PM peak.

Looking at the station from Broadgate, the proposal establishes an open east-west route through the station at grade. The platform announcement board has been consolidated into many smaller boards, distributed everywhere in the station, leaving a much more open space with a clear view from Broadgate to Bishopsgate, two sides of the City of London previously always separated by the train station.

View of the station entrance at Hope Square, at the intersection of Liverpool Street with Old Broad Street. The Metropolitan Arcade is visible on the other side of Liverpool Street, containing the TfL ticket hall A that provides dedicated access to the Circle and Metropolitan Underground lines. As part of this proposal, new lifts will be installed in ticket hall A, providing step-free access to these platforms for the first time.

The Kindertransport Memorial remains a prominent focal point, repositioned within this space. The glazed arches frame the now opened views into the station concourse, into the trainshed and out towards Exchange Square. New escalators visible on the right side provide direct access to the TfL ticket hall, to separate the urban and station flows from TfL passenger flows, thus making the station easier to use and more resilient in the case of disturbances.

In addition to its role as a train station, serving millions of passengers every year, Liverpool Street can be positioned as a civic asset, a place, building or institution that:
- Contributes to the well-being, identity, and functioning of a community
- Serves the collective good of the public, rather than solely private interest - Enhances the quality of life for residents and visitors
- Contributes to a sense of place and belonging
- Fosters social interaction
- Is accessible to all members of the community, regardless of background or ability
- Promotes equity and social inclusion
- Has enduring value to be preserved and enhanced for future generations

Exchange Square

Sun Street Passage

Lower concourse - proposed

The design proposal removes these obstructions to create a significantly clearer, more open space across both concourse levels. This allows the station’s heritage architecture to be prominently featured and enjoyed, while greatly improving ease of movement for passengers. Proposed new retail at mezzanine level offers high quality accommodation to attract prospective tenants and improve retail/leisure offering.

Upper concourse- proposed

Looking down into the concourse from the Liverpool Street/Sun Street entrance, this view shows a transformed departure experience. New lifts and escalators are proposed from both east and west for better accessibility. Another key change is a more open concourse at street level, making the urban level of the station a lot more permeable whilst offering through views.


The image on the right illustrates the interplay between the existing 1990s trainshed, the proposed new station roof and the Great Eastern Hotel façade, set against the backdrop of the open concourse beneath. The new roof is set back from the hotel façade to allow natural light to reach the concourses below.

Articles

Architects Journal 04.25

Time Out 04.25

BBC News 04.25

The Standard 04.25

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