Tottenham Court Road Station Upgrade
Tottenham Court Road, London, UK · 2011–2022 (redevelopment started June 2011, main upgrade completed 2016-2017, Elizabeth Line station opened 2022) · £1bn (estimated, joint redevelopment by Crossrail and TfL)
The judgement call
Account-gated at launch* Collaboration with artist Daniel Buren for a permanent art installation (Diamonds and Circles) for wayfinding and aesthetic enhancement. * Integration of the Elizabeth Line station with the expanded and upgraded London Underground station. * Strategic design to accommodate future Crossrail 2 provision. * Extensive use of SCL tunnelling for complex underground structures.
Key engineering challenges
* Working within an existing, fully operational station in a highly congested urban environment. * Construction of the line’s only curved platform for the routeway to avoid the foundations of Centrepoint. * Designing and constructing two sprayed concrete lined (SCL) overbridges over the operational Central Line. * Modernisation of intricate existing tunnels and cross passages.
Project facts
- Client / owner
- Transport for London (TfL), Crossrail (now Elizabeth Line), London Underground
- Lead contractor
- Taylor Woodrow / BAM Nuttall JV; Laing O’Rourke; Vinci and BAM Nuttall JV; Balfour Beatty Morgan Vinci JV
- Lead designers
- Hawkins\Brown; Acanthus LW; CH2M Hill; Halcrow; Arup; Atkins
- Project type
- upgrade
- Scale
- New eastern ticket hall six times larger; new western ticket hall; three new station entrances; 5 lifts for step-free access; 230-meter-long Elizabeth line platforms; concourse tunnel, escape tunnels, cross passages, interchange tunnel, connector stub tunnels. Daily footfall increased from 100,000 to 200,000.
- Disciplines
- Civil; structural; mechanical; electrical; systems; architecture; geotechnical; tunnelling
- Standards & frameworks
- London Underground requirements; Crossrail standards
Sources: * Hawkins\Brown (Undated), "Tottenham Court Road Station Upgrade", https://www.hawkinsbrown.com/projects/tottenham-court-road-station-upgrade/ * Dr. Sauer & Partners (Undated), "Tottenham Court Road Station Upgrade Execution", https://www.dr-sauer.com/projects/tottenham-court-road-station-upgrade-execution * Railway Technology (2013), "Tottenham Court Road Station, London", https://www.railway-technology.com/projects/tottenham-court-road-station-london/ * Laing O’Rourke (2021), "Tottenham Court Road Elizabeth line station enters final commissioning phase", https://www.laingorourke.com/company/news/2021/tottenham-court-road-elizabeth-line-station-enters-final-commissioning-phase/