Take a closer look at the design magic in London’s majestic ‘Liz Line’
Global firm Grimshaw’s lead architect on the project reveals how the new, 118 kilometre-long tunnel system was conceived to be anything but claustrophobic.
The airy atrium leading up from Whitechapel station on the Elizabeth Line. Hufton + Crow
It was a bitter winter afternoon in London as I made my first descent into the glistening maw of the refurbished Paddington railway station. A major stop on the new 118-kilometre-long Elizabeth Line, traversing the metropolis from east to west, Paddington was opened by the line’s royal namesake as part of her Platinum Jubilee celebrations last May. HHR was given an Oyster travel card and shown how to use it – although no sightings were made of the monarch navigating the pristine tunnel system in the four months before her death, aged 96.
An arterial tunnel at the Tottenham Court Road station on the Elizabeth Line, showing shifts in lighting from cool to warm. Hufton+Crow
Stephen ToddDesign editorStephen Todd writes for The Australian Financial Review's weekly Life&Leisure lift out and AFR Magazine. Email Stephen at stephen.todd@afr.com
