Blackfriars Station, London, United Kingdom

London’s Blackfriars Station redesign will bridge the North and South banks of the Thames.

Work has now started on the £350m redevelopment that will make London’s Blackfriars the first station to span the river Thames.

Two architects are involved in the project, (Jacobs designing the building and Tony Gee & Partners designing the bridge), which forms part of the £5.5bn Thameslink Programme to ease rail congestion and to cope with a predicted growth in commuters.

Although Blackfriars station used to contain an entrance on the South Bank in the 19th century, the present entrance is on the north side of the river. The redevelopment will extend the current platforms across the Thames, with entrances on both sides of the river.

The new South Bank entrance will provide direct access to major attractions such as Tate Modern and Shakespeare’s Globe theatre.

The existing entrance on the north side will be replaced with a curvaceous glass building containing a shared ticket hall for National Rail and London Underground services and a mezzanine level.

Richard Parry, London Underground’s director of strategy and service development, said: “Once the works are complete, customers will get a new upgraded station with step free access, increased capacity and better interchange facilities between the Tube and National Rail services.”

A spokesman for Network Rail told WAN: “As well as spanning the entire length of the Thames, the scheme will accommodate a set of disused piers from an old railway bridge that was built in 1864. It’s a very interesting build.”

Blackfriars’ overground section will remain operational but the Tube station will be closed from March 2 2009 until work completes in late 2011.

The Thameslink Programme also includes a revamp of Kings Cross St Pancras, London Bridge and Farringdon station.

Jacobs | www.jacobsbabtie.com

Oliver Ephgrave, Reporter (WAN)

Parliament Hill, London, United Kingdom

The property, a semi-detached house located on a quiet road leading to Hampstead Heath, comprised a maisonette and a flat, with an old extension to the rear. The houses in the area are not generally built well and require a lot of attention to ensure that they are sound structurally.

The brief was to form a modern and enjoyable single family home for our client by extending the ground floor and integrating the rear garden with the new interiors.

The main architectural interventions to the exterior consisted of a new extension with a terrace above and redesign of the rear elevation to create large openings.

Internally, the ground and first floor layouts were remodelled extensively. The ground floor was opened up and connected to the new extension. The rear garden was excavated so as to be at the same level as the ground floor. The kitchen to the front of the house was designed with sliding doors so that it could be separated from the living room when necessary.

A large addition to the rear of the ground floor, tilted in plan from the lines of the main house in order to capitalise on the best outlook, was built to create the sitting area in the living room. Structurally the extension was challenging, since it had no column in the corner facing the garden. Two sliding doors meet at the corner with the ceiling above suspended in the air. A large opening, covered in structural glass, was formed over the extension, which lets diffused light into the depth of the living room.

The first floor of the house is dedicated to master bedroom, en-suite bathroom and walk-in wardrobe as well as a study. The large master bedroom has direct access to the rear large terrace over the new extension. — WorldArchitectureNews

Belsize Architects | www.belsizearchitects.com