Planning for the future
Over two and a half years between June 2009 and December 2011 a new ticket hall was created on the southern side of Cowcross Street which is dedicated to future Thameslink and Crossrail passengers. At 165 square metres, this concourse is designed to cater for the estimated 150,000 passengers who will use the station each day once both services are fully operational in 2019.
In December 2011 the extended platforms were opened allowing longer, twelve car services to serve Farringdon for the first time, providing an immediate 50% increase in capacity for passengers. Overall, there will be three times as many Thameslink services through Farringdon when the Thameslink Programme completes in 2019 compared to when work started in 2009.
The train shed roof at Farringdon was also extended at the northern end of the station. This work was done give coverage to more of the platform area and encourage passengers to spread out and use the full length of the platforms, maximising their capacity even in inclement weather.
Biodiverse and sustainable
Sustainability also had an important influence on the design and build at Farringdon. The newly refurbished station has a living roof to increase biodiversity in an area with low ecological value, helping create habitat for the Black Redstart bird species amongst others. The ‘brown’ roof contributed 20% towards the London Borough of Islington’s new habitat creation target in 2012.
Without taking into account the long-term benefits of improved insulation the brown roof was also nearly £40,000 cheaper than using zinc. The design of the new ticket hall would have required over 500 tonnes of steel but instead, a responsibly sourced, eco-reinforced option was chosen. Nearly 95% of this was recycled material.