Here at Jamestown, we take pride in our work and in supplying our clients with exactly what they need to get the job done.  Never more so than when the job is recognised with an award, as was the remodelling work on the Integrated Ticket Hall at Farringdon Station in London.  The redevelopment work at Farringdon Station is part of the ThamesLink programme, a 68-station mainline route in the British railway system that runs 140 miles from north to south and serving both Gatwick and Luton airports.  The ThamesLink programme is a massive £5.5 billion scheme to extend this service to another 100 stations and increase capacity on the central London section to accommodate longer and more frequent trains.

Farringdon Station serves both the London Underground and National Rail’s main line in the London Borough of Islington, just outside the City.  It was first opened in 1863 as the terminus of the then Metropolitan Railway, the world’s first underground railway system.  The station began life as Farringdon Street and the original building was a short distant from the present station building.  However, when the Metropolitan Railway added an extension to Moorgate, the station was relocated and named Farringdon and High Holborn when a new station building was opened in 1922.

England and the City of London has some of the finest architectural heritage on our planet and the regeneration and renewal of town and city centres over recent years has brought with it some unique challenges for all those involved.  The careful integration of historic buildings is a vital part of creating popular urban quarters that add character and distinction as part of the sustainable regeneration activities.  Using the historic environment as an asset and giving it new life is paramount to the economic and social revival of towns and cities in the 21^st Century.

As part of the Thameslink upgrade, Farringdon Station has been refurbished with a new roof canopy, new entrance and new concourse.  An additional ticket hall has been added on the south side of Cowcross Street and the existing ticket hall and concourse which are listed have been remodelled for use by London Underground and Thameslink passengers.  This is where Jamestown and Bourne Steel come into the picture.

The Bourne Group delivered the station’s new integrated ticket hall, a job that included underpinning the existing bridge, refurbishing the Turnmill Street ticket hall and installing new roof lights.  This involved the supply and installation of cladding, glazing and louvres, the refurbishment of the existing Grade II listed station building, and the construction of the new north train shed roof.  With the help of Jamestown, the Bourne Group provided Farringdon Station with a structural steel package that earned the 2012 Construction News Steel Specialist Award and that was also shortlisted for the 2012 Structural Steel Design Awards.

As part of the structural steelwork and decking packages for the new East and West Ticket Halls, Bourne Steel provided 2000Te of structural steel that was installed to form the new ticket halls and the structural framework for future oversite development at this historic station. Jamestown provided 280 Te of the complicated fully fabricated plate girders and box girders. Some of these were 28m long and others 20Te piece weights.  The girders were first delivered to Creagh Concrete in Northern Ireland so that they could be encased in concrete before being delivered to London for installation on site.

Farringdon Station is located within a built-up commercial, residential and conservation area and is owned and operated by London Underground who lease two of the four platforms to Network Rail.  It is right at the hearth of London’s transport investment being the point at which north-south Thameslink meets east-west Crossrail.  Farringdon Station’s refurbishment was designed to ensure that from 2018, it will be a brand-new rail hub connecting Thameslink and Crossrail and providing direct links to three of the UK’s major international airports (Heathrow, Gatwick and Luton) and St. Pancras International Station, providing travellers with direct rail access to the European cities of Paris, Brussels and Lille via the high-speed Eurostar services.

One of the key drivers for this project was the Thameslink programme sustainable design and construction strategy setting out the targets and objectives, which took into consideration legal commitments made to objectors to the scheme.  It was also necessary to implement the environmental mitigation set out by the Environmental Statement and the station itself had to stay open and working at all times for the duration of the refurbishment works, no mean feat when it comes to such an ambitious project. To fulfil these requirements, the project team south to achieve standards that would exceed the basic requirements to achieve a CEEQUAL “Excellent” Award, the Consideration Constructor Scheme award, Costain’s IS01 4001 certification and best practice in heritage management.

With an extremely tight delivery schedule which continuously evolved during the project, here at Jamestown we managed to meet all the project deadlines and achieve the high standard of finish coupled with special tolerances that were requested by Bourne’s engineers.  We are so proud to have been involved with this project, taking our products right into the heart of London to facilitate transportation around the UK and into Europe.