Program

At the time of design, the emptiness of the North Greenwich peninsula seemed vast: It was a "brownfield," where the empty stacks of a gas works, one of London's largest industrial complexes, had once flared. The stop, not origianally planned for the line, was added with financial contributions from British Gas to spur redevelopment. It also accomodates a third tunnel for a planned branch line.

Only later would the presence of the station prompt planners to choose this site for the Millenium Dome. Now, an Underground Station that bears more than a little resemblance to its site's earlier occupant pulses below London's new star attraction. Passengers capacity can grow, if necessary, by opening a second entrance, which was originally planned but never built.

Engineering

With ample open ground, conventional cut-and-cover construction proved to be the most straightforward solution. Because of its adjacency to two of the line's under-river crossings, the station is 82 feet deep. It is also unusually wide to fit the third tunnel. At one time, Alsop & Stormer conceived the ticketing level as open to the sky. The designers peeled away its edges and supported it on massive criss-crossed horizontal braces, which would express the forces pressing against the station's outer walls. Not only would passengers easily find their way to track level, but the scheme would also allow daylight to thread its way through the suspending structure to the platforms. Ultimately, the structure was beefed up to accommodate an air-rights structure over a solid roof, and a bus station and park-and-ride lot were built.

Thought the earlier scheme was discarded, some of its elements found their way into the completed design. Two rows of inclined columns run the length of the platform, supporting a massive roof above the ticketing-level mezzanine. The hull-like shape of the underside of the mezzanine encloses smoke-extracting ductwork; winglike appendages direct the flow.

Expression

With its partially exposed galvanized-steel ceilings, suspension cables, and braces, North Greenwich evokes a high-tech world of shadows. The architect further dissolved the stations's apparent edges by backlighting blue-tinted-glass sidewalls. Concrete enclosing walls and the inclined ovoid concrete columns were clad in blue mosaic tile. In contrast, the mezzanine suspended within the enclosure was faced in stainless steel.