Thameslink Programme | Jestico + Whiles

A major new infrastructure and replacement building work project for Network Rail. The new viaduct forms part of a project to reduce a bottleneck for trains through London Bridge Station. The design team brief was to integrate the new viaduct route preserving the best of the existing historic urban character within this Southwark Conservation Area. The viaduct has civic presence and the dramatic bridge forms a prominent gateway to the City. Following scheme approval in 2006 the design teams commenced detailed design in 2007 and addressed numerous Planning Conditions. Enabling works commenced mid-2008, the viaduct was completed in 2012 and final building replacement works in 2013. The project cost was £82m. The scheme involved demolition, modifications and rebuilding to numerous sensitive sites. Design and implementation of the works was complicated by proximity of operational rail structures and underground infrastructure. Early in the design process access consultants were appointed to assess all opportunities that could be achieved within the project works. All new building elements are fully accessible and many modified properties, some Listed, now benefit from much improved accessibility. The first significant new-build element completed on the project in 2009 was the Jubilee Market. This distinctive structure comprises a steel column and branch arrangement with inflated ETFE roof. The viaduct comprises concrete columns and piers with an insitu deck in parts with a deep steel girders with white cement precast soffits over other sections. The bridge achieves impact on its most visible south side utilizing a trapezoidal girder of large diameter steel tubes with tapering ends. The curved zinc clad acoustic barrier will reduce noise impact. The viaduct soffit and bridge truss is illuminated with LED lighting. The replacement building work includes a striking glazed hall structure. The unique cladding comprises overlapping glass panels forming a permeable veil. A glazed roof protects the area between the new and existing viaducts. A glazed retail unit nestles below the new bridge. A major component included the reconstruction of a section of Borough Market. The best of the historic cast iron structures were restored, and with complementary new structures were reassembled in a new configuration. On Borough High Street a new Portland stone and zinc clad building provides retail and office accommodation. The façade of the new building was set back flush with the adjacent listed Post Office and is fronted by a new public piazza. A new commercial building below the viaduct on Bedale Street incorporates a new entrance into Borough Market. The façade complements those adjoining and tightly wraps around the over-sailing viaduct to maintain continuity of the streetscape. The over-sailing viaduct necessitated the Listed Wheatsheaf public house to be reduced by one storey and the rear of the building was totally reconstructed. The beer garden site accommodates a stair structure serving the viaduct, clad with stainless steel mesh and a ‘living wall’. Apart from the rail infrastructure and improved buildings, the project provides much improved public domain in this historic and vibrant part of London.