Studio Egret West unveils design framework for new London Underground station projects
Studio Egret West has published the 'London Underground Design Idiom', a design manifesto for all future Underground station projects.
The publication covers everything from small interventions, like repainting, to full station refurbishments and new builds. TfL commissioned the London-based architecture studio to create a design guide that would recognise the great existing design, while creating confident, cohesive branding across the whole network.
Heritage elements such as typographer Edward Johnson’s logo and Harry Ford and Charles Holden’s station designs will remain, alongside new features including darker grey ceilings on platforms to conceal dirt and a palette of bronze, grey finishes and the corporate blue of the logo. The visuals show spacious ticket halls, blue tiling and muted lighting.
Studio Egret West said the all-encompassing design guide covers both the conceptual and the pragmatic, it will provide the first port of call for all future design decision-making on the network. “Our challenge was to balance the needs of the station with those of commerce, identifying what truly makes a station feel like a station before feeling or becoming a pure retail environment,” a spokesperson said.
London Underground stations are currently undergoing significant change: the process of bringing staff out of the ticket offices and into the ticket halls has freed up space for commercial opportunities within the stations.