Jubilee Line Underground
INTRODUCTION
The extension to the Jubilee Line
Underground in London, which runs from
Westminster eastwards as far as Stratford was
completed in 1999, and is a fine example of
engineering in the field of transport. In most
cases daylight has been introduced to the
lower areas of the stations, by various means,
such as domes, drums, canopies and light
shafts.
Roland Paoletti, the architect in overall
charge was, as Frank Pick before him,
conscious of the opportunity to create
buildings of quality; but rather than imposing
some form of grand design on his project
architects, he relied first on choosing those
architects with particular engineering skills,
and then allowing them to work within the
framework of the local community to express
the grain of an individual neighbourhood.
In selecting four Underground stations to
feature in this Case Study of the Jubilee Line,
the purpose was not to provide a ‘beauty
contest,’ since the architectural quality of all
the new stations along the line is significant,
but to choose stations in which the solutions
to the problems posed by daylighting stations
on the Jubilee Line are noted for their
differences of approach.
The examples chosen are as follows:
Southwark
Natural light funnelled down through four
storeys by means of a wide concealed cone
structure.
Canada Water
A glazed cylindrical ticket hall at ground level
allowslighttofiltergentlydowntothe
escalators below, with dynamic patterns of
sunlight and shadow.Canary Wharf
Three wide glazed canopies located above the
vertical circulation at the escalator locations,
provides ample daylight in the spaces below
for orientation and daylight impression.Stratford
The situation is entirely different. First it is an
‘above ground’ Underground station, in which
the passenger enters the trains which run
inside the building at the same level as the
ticket office.
The architects for the four selected stations
are as follows:
Southwark
McCormac Jamieson Prichard
Canada Water
Ron Herron/Imagination
Canary Wharf
Foster and Partners
Stratford
Wilkinson EyreJubilee Line Underground 177