The new station at the eastern end of the Elizabeth Line enabled a mid-century brutalist `flyover’ to finally become part of the urban fabric of Abbey Wood village after causing fifty years of severance to the active travel networks. It demonstrates that even big, bad highway infrastructure is eminently fixable and can be integrated into the fine grain of a residential suburb to form part of the active travel network without drastically compromising its original function.
Crossrail’s Urban Integration Team and Bexley and Greenwich Councils commissioned Urban Movement to carry out a landscape, movement and public realm design study focused on the new station at Abbey Wood in Thamesmead. The findings of the study and collaborations with the station architect, railway engineers and train operation company led to the development of detailed designs for the surrounding public realm, streets and flyover which were finally completed in time for the delayed opening of the Elizabeth Line.
The Harrow Manorway flyover was built to bridge over the railway tracks at Abbey Wood village in the 1970’s, replacing a level crossing that was causing delays to motor traffic. To cross the tracks, however, pedestrians had to then navigate a switch-back arrangement of ramps that remarkably resulted in a longer journey than would have resulted in simply walking over the flyover, which, however, they were discouraged from doing, with warning signs and deterrent paving. The dual carriageway was also a very hostile place to cycle, despite its shallow gradients, due to high traffic speeds and volumes. At grade interchange between to the two bus stops located on the flyover was prevented by a central reservation lined with guard railing, forcing pedestrians to use the system of ramps and walkways to cross under the flyover bridge deck.
The flyover was, luckily, over engineered allowing the introduction of footways and mandatory with-flow cycle lanes along both sides, bus lanes and general traffic lanes. The new station building was elevated to flyover level and set back to create a new plaza, which extended across the bridge, via an oversized toucan crossing. The station forecourt plaza affords fantastic panoramic view of Lesnes Wood and Thamesmead with the landscape design exploiting these with strategically placed seats and a simple de-cluttered aesthetic.
To the south a grand flight of steps (to compliment the lifts) sweeps down to link the station forecourt to the village High street which the project refurbished with trees, rainagrdens and new paving. A series of lower-level village spaces were redesigned as low speed environments to accommodate a TfL bus service and drop off and pick up activity along with extensive cycle parking. New street trees were planted to compliment the existing mature specimens with seats and a bottle fill fountain strategically placed to benefit from the shelter provided by the flyover.
To the north, Felixstowe Road, part of the route to Thamesmead, was realigned to create a new public space in front of the parade of shops and improve access to the station. It was defined with raingardens planted with wildflowers, grasses, herbaceous plants and trees, with seats strategically located to allow the space to function as an outdoor waiting room with the Elizabeth line platform only a few paces away.
The landscape design successfully integrates the station and its access arrangements into the village of Abbey Wood whilst complementing the character of the new station (polite modernism) the flyover (brutalism) and the residential suburbs (Edwardian and Victorian) and creates a new gateway to the Thamesmead estate. In 2024, the Elizabeth Line won the Sterling Prize.
• Project typology: Public realm and highways associated with a new station.
• All landscape architecture offices involved in the design of landscape: Urban Movement Limited.
• All architecture offices involved in the design: Fereday Pollard Limited.
• Other credits you need or wish to write: Crossrail Urban Integration Team, Waterman Engineers, London Borough of Greenwich & London Borough of Bexley.
