The new entrance on Oxford Street|The station features Daniel Buren’s signature vinyl shapes|By 2016 the station will be fully accessible with five new lifts providing step-free access|Around 150,000 people currently use the station each day||
The new Tottenham Court Road station entrance and ticket hall by Hawkins\Brown have opened as part of the architects’ £400m redevelopment of the site.
Artwork by French artist Daniel Buren decorates the walls at ground level on the Oxford Street entrance, and continues down alongside the escalators to the ticket hall. Construction required 80,000 ceramic tiles – enough for eight Olympic-sized swimming pools – depicting large black striped geometric shapes on a white background.
Hawkins\Brown, the original architects for the entire station, worked with Acanthus Architects on the Oxford Street entrance. Acanthus handled detail design, and has also been charged with the design of the Central Line escalator and platforms at the station.
Hawkins\Brown also continues to work on the station upgrade, working alongside Stanton Williams and landscape architects Gillespies, which together won the competition to design the new plaza. Stanton Williams is also working on the detailed design of the pavilion entrances for the underground station.
The station and plaza will be fully operational by 2016, and will be complemented by more Buren artwork – a series of colourful diamond and circle vinyl shapes, which will be fixed to the station’s internal glass.
Buren’s artwork is the second to be installed at Tottenham Court Road station after Eduardo Paolozzi’s 1984 mosaic. This will be preserved within the upgraded station, although some smaller sections will be removed and displayed elsewhere. Further artworks by Douglas Gordon and Richard Wright will be added to Tottenham Court Road’s “urban art gallery” in 2018.
Hawkins\Brown’s involvement with the Tottenham Court Road station extends back to 1992 when it was employed by Crossrail to carry out feasibility studies. It remains involved in the Crossrail project, and is working for Laing O’Rourke on the connection between the new ticket hall and further station entrance with oversite development being built on Dean Street.
