- URBAN DESIGN AND
ARCHITECTURE/ - CONSTRUCTION AND
CIVIL ENGINEERING/ - CULTURAL
PLACE-MAKING/ - PROMOTING
URBAN DISTRICTS/ - NEW MARKETS
London Paddington Station
Public art for a major Central London
underground station
The Case:
Through showcasing the artistic wealth of the capital in the architectural realm of planned new stations, Crossrail aspired to transform expectations of what public space can be. This was the first time that art on a public infrastructure programme was to be funded by capital raised from the private sector.
The Challenge:
Paddington station, with an expected passenger flow of 25 million per year, a grade-1 listed building in the west of central London, provides a highly complex and challenging setting for the development of a new urban rail infrastructure. Using this location as a pilot for all eight central stations, we were required to devise a public art master-plan, and a capital fundraising strategy for integrated public art.
The Solution:
We formulated a completely new strategy for art integration and construction hoarding upgrades for long term stakeholder buy-in by through an externally funded art programme. As part of this strategy we devised a programme to secure community engagement during major construction challenges of Crossrail.
This strategy was about establishing Crossrail as a visionary brand, combining infrastructure with artistic design to showcase London as a leading cultural city. By embedding sculptural, visual and digital art into the new station design, the aspiration has been to develop a legacy of key relationships with private funders, leading international galleries, public planners, architects and developer stakeholders. We built consensus across project stakeholders by engaging private, public, arts and community sectors in a joint endeavour to deliver an outstanding passenger experience for future generations.