Brief comparable in scale to recent projects at King’s Cross and London Bridge stations

Architect 5th Studio has been appointed to lead an urban design framework to improve the area around Stratford station in east London.

The scale of transformation needed is said to be similar to what has been seen at King’s Cross and London Bridge.

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Source: 5th Studio

Passenger numbers at the station have trebled in a decade

The architecture and spatial planning practice will lead a multi-disciplinary design and planning team consisting of Expedition Engineering, Momentum Transport, Turner & Townsend and Giorgia Sharpe with Thomas Matthews to develop a vision and urban design framework.

The £300,000 contract was awarded by the London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC) through a competitive tender via the GLA’s ADUP II framework. The LLDC is working in partnership with Network Rail, Newham council and Transport for London

The work – to produce a planning and development framework to revitalise the area – is focused on Stratford station, the seventh busiest in the UK, both how it can be improved as an interchange and how it links to the nearby International Station.

A key part of the study will be to assess how better connectivity could be formed between Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and Stratford town centre.

The team will also identify ways to make the station more accessible and passenger-friendly.

The lines are used by an estimated 128 million passengers a year, with demand predicted to continue to increase in the future, despite covid. Rosanna Lawes, executive director of development at LLDC, said: “The scale of regeneration on and around the park has meant that passenger use at Stratford station has trebled over the past 10 years.”

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Tom Holbrook, director of 5th Studio, said: “The project presents an opportunity to ensure strong, well-designed connections between Stratford town centre and the growing social, cultural and economic assets of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and its neighbouring communities across east London.”

This work will inform the strategic business case for the long-term redevelopment of Stratford Regional Station that is being progressed by LLDC, Network Rail, LB Newham and TfL.