A modern train station platform with a wooden canopy and a few people waiting. The tracks are visible, and the background features leafless trees. An electronic display board hangs from the ceiling.
Network Rail Stations

Network Rail Stations

Nationwide, England

2020

Client   Network Rail
The UK rail network has a rich history encompassing a diverse range of stations. They vary widely in location, scale and function as well as the era in which they were built. The most successful, that leave an impression on travellers, connect with them on a personal level, always featuring human scaled elements. They lie between product design, architecture and public realm design.
A modern train station platform with a unique wooden canopy structure. Bare trees are visible in the background, and green shrubs line the foreground. The sky is clear and blue. A streetlamp stands on the left side of the image.
A series of six diagrams showing different colored architectural canopy designs with a human figure for scale. The canopies vary in curvature and colors, including blue, yellow, white, and red backgrounds.
Architectural line drawing of a railway station section. The top image shows a curved platform canopy extending over a bench and a train. The bottom image features a triangular canopy above a similar scene, with both sections including structural details.

Like its predecessors, this proposal begins with a simple form shaped by a range of physical and functional features. While every site is unique these constraints will be common: structure, shade, shelter, enclosure, utilities, facilities etc. The resulting base module is then replicated and deployed in a site specific manner that responds to local context and requirements. By having a simple, flexible and robust base module; or 'seed'; assemblies could be infinitely adaptable.

A geometric design process showing a progression of shapes. Small individual forms combine into larger structures, creating complex, interconnected patterns. The transformation moves from top left to bottom right.

The form of our ‘seed’ springs from columns safely offset from a platform edge. As it rises it reaches out towards the platform to safely shelter waiting passengers. To create equilibrium it simultaneously bends in the opposite direction (at times towards a parallel track). This simple structural act is both elegant and efficient, easily emphasised by an organic form. The strength of this expressive ‘seed’ is that once spread along a line it will inevitably create a recognizable common identity.

A modern train station platform with wooden beams overhead. People are waiting, and digital screens display train schedules. Sunlight casts shadows on the pavement. Trees and tracks are visible in the background.
A modern, minimalist wooden canopy structure with horizontal slats, set against a backdrop of leafless trees and a clear sky. Two thin power lines are visible above the canopy.

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