Decision on scale of Hawkins Brown and Acme’s scheme to be taken within weeks
Teams working on Hawkins Brown and Acme’s £2.5bn mixed-use redevelopment of London’s Victoria station are set to make a decision in the coming weeks on the potential scale of the scheme.
The property arms of Network Rail and Transport for London (TfL), Network Rail Property and Places for London, are looking at options for moving the bus station which currently occupies an island site outside the front entrance of Victoria station.
A decision on whether the bus station, on Terminus Place, can be relocated is understood to be pivotal to shaping the planned redevelopment of Victoria station.
Places for London chief executive Graeme Craig told Building that the project team was working with TfL’s bus services on the potential for building a new bus station or dispersing bus services to a new location.
Craig said: “We’re looking at feasibility. At the moment, on any project like this, the first task is looking at where we are from an operational point of view.
“Until we know the best location for the buses to be, that then tells us what the front of Victoria [station] looks like, which then tells us what the rest of the development might be.”
>> See also: Hawkins Brown and Acme working on major redevelopment of Victoria station
The redevelopment of the station, currently London’s sixth largest, is aiming to enable infrastructure improvements encompassing all transport modes at the site including National Rail, London Underground and buses.
It is expected to contain up to two million sq ft of commercial space, 300,000 sq ft of retail and an as yet undecided number of homes, including affordable homes.
However, Craig said operational aspects of the project would need to be worked through “before we know if there is a deliverable scheme at Victoria, and what the nature of that scheme will be”.
Network Rail is understood to be looking at several sites in its ownership for development, including the Terminus Place site and the main station building itself for a potential over-station development.
Two other sites to the south could also be included, the Grosvenor Sidings rail yard on the western side of the approaches to Victoria Station and the grade II-listed Victoria Coach Station on Buckingham Palace Road, London’s largest coach station. Construction of the scheme is expected to be split into five phases.
Craig added: “Those sites are where there is the potential development once we know where we are from a transport point of view, but we are much too early to say either what the scale might be or what the uses might be.”
Places for London and Network Rail, which are working with Westminster council on the scheme, are aiming to launch a first round of consultation later this year with a planning application expected either by the end of this year or in 2026.
Network Rail Property chief executive Robin Dobson said the redevelopment of Victoria station had the ”ability to be utterly transformational, wiring together all property and transport sectors as a sustainable growth story.”
A Places for London spokesperson said: “Since early 2023, Places for London and Network Rail have had a strategic collaboration, aimed at accelerating development activity across London.
”This work will see both bodies combine efforts to deliver more homes on adjoining land, with a focus on affordable housing, alongside investment in transport infrastructure. Victoria station is one of a number of sites that is being assessed.
”The station is a key strategic location for both parties and the safe and effective running of the public transport network will always be paramount.”
The proposals for Victoria station follow a masterplan for the grade II-listed site drawn up by Allies & Morrison and WW&P, which were appointed in 2019 to identify opportunities for development and potential public realm improvements.
Victoria is one of three major station redevelopment projects in the capital which Network Rail is currently working up alongside Liverpool Street and the Grimshaw-designed overhaul of Waterloo, both of which will include substantial overstation office elements.
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