The Making of… Canary Wharf Underground Station

‘The Making of…’ is an opportunity to reflect on Foster + Partners’ completed projects and the process of making them.

Last month marked twenty-five years of Canary Wharf Underground Station, which was one of eleven new stations built for the Jubilee Line extension project from Green Park to Stratford. The 300-metre-long building is located within the hollow of the former West India Dock using a cut-and-cover construction technique. At ground level, the roof is laid out as a landscaped park, creating Canary Wharf's principal recreation space.

Toby Blunt, Senior Partner at Foster + Partners, describes the process of designing and realising the project at the turn of the millennium.

I have always been grateful that Canary Wharf Underground Station was the first project I was allocated, when joining the practice in 1995. I joined the team at the ‘detail design’ stage and worked on the project until its completion in 1999. Those four years were some of the most exciting and rewarding of my career. It was a real privilege to be part of an amazing team – and contribute to such an important project for the London Underground, which has been an integral part of the city’s DNA for over 160 years.

The Jubilee Line Extension project was established to serve Canary Wharf and other areas of south and east London – with eleven new stations designed by different architectural practices. At that time, Canary Wharf was lacking a significant piece of infrastructure to enable efficient travel to and from the business district, as commuter numbers were rising steadily. Extending the line created a direct connection between Canary Wharf and the rest of London, which has had a profoundly positive effect on the overall success of the area.

Our design was driven by the need to accommodate Canary Wharf’s growing passenger numbers at the busiest times of the day. A key metric that guided this was the width of the ticket line – based on the estimated number of passengers – approximately 100,000 during peak periods. Twenty banks of escalators allow movement in and out of the station, while administrative offices, ticket kiosks and other amenities are sited along the flanks of the ticket hall, leaving the main concourse free.  

The Canary Wharf development was built on the site of the former West India Docks, near the Isle of Dogs in East London. Our specific site contained one of the historic docks, allowing us to use a ‘cut and cover’ methodology of construction, as the required space below ground level (the ‘cut’) already existed. A major challenge was sinking our station box into the former dock while combating uplift, caused by the station effectively floating, which could counteract its weight and cause structural failure. This involved a careful design and technical engineering process, including the use of anchoring systems to secure the station in place.

Measuring 300 metres in length, the station’s underground structure is as long as Canary Wharf Tower is tall. The sheer scale of the project never fails to astound me – even when I visit now – twenty-five years later. The station has an almost cathedral-like quality that gives it a unique identity and provides a sense of calm as you descend from the main entrance to the Ticket Hall.

This sense of calm is reinforced by the dramatic use of daylight, which is focused at the entrances, through large glazed domed canopies. The two main canopies – East and West – are approximately twenty metres wide and twenty-five metres long. The overall form of the canopies and corresponding geometry for the glass panels was generated by rotation of a defined ellipse about a central axis. Together with the third smaller entrance, at the east end of the station, they draw daylight deep into the concourse. By concentrating natural light dramatically at these points, orientation is enhanced, minimising the need for directional signage.

The practice was an early adopter of CAD, which was used to develop the geometry of the glass canopies. These were also inspired by the glassy entrance canopies − or 'Fosteritos' − that were part of the practice’s Bilbao Metro project. Their shape is evocative of inclined movement and generated by the profile of the escalator tunnels as they rise up to pavement level. Additionally, CAD technology was used to ensure that all of the station’s complex servicing, safety and signalling systems were fully coordinated.  

Our decision to create a new public realm on the station’s roof has come to define the project. The landscaped park is the largest green space in Canary Wharf, providing 10,000 square meters of community space for office workers and local residents to enjoy.

Twenty-five years on, over 40 million people pass through the station each year, making it second busiest on the London Underground outside Central London after Stratford. With the more recent additions of Crossrail Place and the new Elizabeth line station, I have no doubt that the area will continue to thrive for generations to come.