 A dramatic new look for Haymarket station was revealed by Nexus today as work continues on the £20m rebuilding of the station. The design features new curved walls and ceilings creating a more open, brighter and better waiting environment. The white panels are interspersed with striking bands of colour introduced by an artist working alongside the architects and civil engineers. And distinctive parts of Metro’s brand identity are preserved – with the giant ‘Haymarket’ station name given a fresh new look and the unique Calvert typeface for signs retained. The new look for Haymarket will serve as a blueprint for other city centre stations as Nexus takes forward its £600 million Metro re-invigoration plans to modernise the whole network. Haymarket is used by around six million Metro passengers every year and is one of the busiest stations in the north of England. It is a gateway to the Northumberland Street shopping area, two universities, Newcastle’s main hospital and city centre attractions. The Haymarket scheme, led by private developer 42nd Street Hub, will see the station completely rebuilt with a new four-storey building above the concourse and improved passenger facilities at ground level and below. The landmark steel arched trusses that will form the frame of the building above ground level are due to be erected in the coming weeks. Tolent Construction are currently building the project, due to be completed in late 2009, based on the design devised and developed by Newcastle architects Reid Jubb Brown Partnership working together with consulting engineers Arup and Metro’s own project and engineering staff. Nexus appointed Newcastle-based creative communications agency Gardiner Richardson and artist Lothar Goetz, a lecturer at Sunderland University to work on passenger areas. Bernard Garner, Director General of Nexus, said: “These images give a dramatic flavour of what the new Haymarket station will look like. “It is still very distinctly a Metro station while taking a leap forward in time from 1980, when Haymarket opened, into a bright future. Architect Alastair Bell of Reid Jubb Brown said: “It is very satisfying to see the scheme take shape and a new dynamism and vibrancy injected into the station and Northumberland Street - both of such significance to the city. “The key to design was that we used the core qualities of the Metro system in a new fresh way that will see a larger, brighter, more spacious and more easily accessible station. “The distinctive new building over the top of the station allows for a new Nexus TravelShop along with other retail facilities at the heart of the city.” Neville Long, Associate Director of Arup, said: “The challenges to Arup presented by this project have required a multi-disciplinary approach. The foundations have been carefully placed around the Metro tunnels and are twice as deep as the building is tall. “The unique frame for the building incorporates steel trusses designed to span over the existing station. The underground station environment requires special consideration to ensure the safety of passengers with bright lighting and CCTV to make passengers feel secure and clear information provided by the new PA and display screens.” Artist Lothar Goetz’s recent work includes commissions for the Newcastle-Gateshead ‘Glow’ winter festival, London Underground and Ministry of Justice headquarters in London. He said: “I like to challenge the boundaries between painting and architecture. My work uses colour to express architectural spaces within the station and contribute to its sense of place.” Darren Richardson, director at Gardiner Richardson, said: “This is a high profile project for Gardiner Richardson as the Metro is an integral part of everyday life and an exciting project to work on, given the iconic status of the Metro brand.” The design use vitreous enamel panels – the same material familiar from today’s Metro stations but in a brighter colour. The tunnel space has been stripped right back to turn what has been a square platform area into a much more open circular space. A black panel strip and signs using the unique Calvert font in white give clear sign information to passengers, while echoing Metro’s famous corporate colours of black, yellow and white. Bold stripes of colour devised by Lothar Goetz provide a striking intervention in the design while drawing attention to features such as exits, lifts and passenger Help Points. On the escalator shaft – where a third escalator is being added and the two existing ones replaced - the design is continued up towards surface level with further colour interventions. Work is continuing at Haymarket around passengers with the station staying open virtually throughout the two-year building project. During May the distinctive external structure will start to take shape as the arched framework of the new building is raised over the existing one below. The station has stayed open while construction work takes place – closing only during weekday evenings and on some weekends. The rebuilding of Haymarket forms part of ambitious plans by Nexus to modernise the whole Metro network over the next 20 years – the Metro Re-invigoration project. More than £50 million is being invested in the next two years on projects including Haymarket, the refurbishment of platforms at Sunderland, the new station at Simonside (opened March 2008) and improvements to all 90 Metrocars. Nexus and the Tyne and Wear Passenger Transport Authority has submitted a £600m business case for the modernisation of the whole network to the Department for Transport for consideration.
|
