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Canary Wharf Crossrail

OVERVIEW

At the beginning of this millennium, the great architects of the 70s, 80s and 90s, such as Richard Rogers, Norman Foster and Zaha Hadid, still dominated architecture in Great Britain. This architecture is often simply referred to as high-tech architecture, not because of any similarities in style but due to its use of computer-aided technology reminiscent of design processes in the automotive industry. Hadid’s parametric and seemingly organic buildings are very different from the buildings by Rogers and Foster, which often are technological structures, composed of a series of modular elements. One example is Canary Wharf Crossrail Station and its accompanying pedestrian bridge by Foster + Partner and Adamson Associates. Individual elements are connected to form complex architecture. The station itself is a 250-metre-long and seven-storey-high cylindrical structure, a masterpiece of engineering. The whole building is set in the hollow of the docklands harbour with four storeys submerged underwater. One distinctive feature is the roof construction: short wooden beams are linked by steel nodes to form triangles and create a load bearing structure for inflated cushions and glazed sections. At ground level, there is a long landscaped park or roof garden, offering views of glossy office blocks. Linking the office towers with the station is a footbridge. It too comprises modular elements of bent and folded ALUCOBOND® and looks so dynamic and futuristic that you could expect underground trains to rush through it instead of just pedestrians. All in all, this utopian-looking architecture is a statement of faith in the future, in London, a city beset by economic crisis, terror attacks and Brexit. Today, very disparate architectural styles are being created by numerous successful architecture offices in London. What many of them have in common is that their design concept is still characterised by the use of parametric or modular elements.


Project: Canary Wharf Crossrail, London | UK

Architect: Adamson Associates, London | UK

Fabricator: Booth Muirie Ltd | UK

Installer: Astec Projects Ltd, Reading | UK + Lakesmere Ltd, Winchester | UK

Façade System: Special construction

Year of Construction: 2014

Product: ALUCOBOND® solid & metallic colours White 16

Photos: Richard Gooding

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