Network Rail to turn Euston station into life sciences district

Network Rail is looking at a “transformational” life sciences-led redevelopment of London’s Euston station as part of a £15bn pipeline of projects in the capital over the next decade.

Robin Dobson, the boss of the transport operator’s property arm, said there was a “huge opportunity around life sciences at Euston” as a way to enable infrastructure improvements at the station, which is the planned London terminus of HS2.

Work at the 135-acre HS2 site has been stalled since last March as part of an effort by former prime minister Rishi Sunak to control spiralling costs on the project.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has confirmed funding for HS2’s tunnels from the current terminus at Old Oak Common to Euston but not for the central London station itself.

Instead, Treasury documents published with last month’s Budget said the commitment aims to “catalyse private investment into the station and local area”.

Dobson said Network Rail’s ambition for Euston was to bring together HS2, Transport for London, the Department for Transport and Camden council to “deliver the infrastructure for future generations”.

He added: “The opportunity is to apply the same mindset and the same sort of delivery mindset that we are applying on other major stations.”

Network Rail has adopted a much more prominent role in the development of sites which it owns after dropping its former development partner Sellar from the Liverpool Street station project.

> Also read: Hawkins Brown and Acme working on major redevelopment of Victoria station

It is currently focusing on three major redevelopment schemes, Liverpool Street, Waterloo and Victoria, with Dobson saying design work at Euston is yet to start in earnest.

While Dobson said the Grimshaw-designed redevelopment of Waterloo will be weighted towards cultural and retail space, and the Hawkins Brown and Acme-designed scheme at Victoria largely commercial, he said the “bias at Euston would be much more towards life sciences”.

Network Rail Property is expected to submit a planning application for its new £1bn, Acme-designed overhaul of Liverpool Street station in the coming weeks and will submit plans for Waterloo and Victoria within the next two years.

> Also read: ‘We hope to be a good neighbour’: how the new Liverpool Street station team is rethinking London’s most controversial project

Life sciences is currently one of the leading commercial sectors in London, accounting for 35% of all office starts between April and September, according to the latest Deloitte crane survey.

The figures were boosted by two huge life sciences starts during the period, Kadans’ One North Quay in the Docklands, designed by KPF, and Reef Estates’, Bennetts-designed Tribeca London scheme in King’s Cross.

Meanwhile, Network Rail has published the results of a first round of consultation on its revised Liverpool Street plans. The survey found nearly three quarters, 74%, of the 1,860 people who responded expressed positive sentiment towards the proposals, with 82% agreeing with plans to improve step-free access at the station.

Respondents also praised Acme’s “heritage-led” design for the site while criticising previous architect Herzog & de Meuron’s proposed contemporary inteventions, which have been scrapped. 

One respondent said: “By all means respect the history of the station, but not at the cost of failing to make it an incredible place for the future. Crack on and get it done.”

Dobson said: “With such a complex project and with multiple stakeholders, there will always be objections, but the overwhelming response has been it’s time to get on with making Liverpool Street station the best it can be.”

The consultation responses contrast strongly with an objection levelled by a campaign group led by the Victorian Society, which has described plans to replace part of the station’s 1980s train shed extension as “perverse”.

The Liverpool Street Station Campaign’s leader Griff Rhys Jones said last month that Network Rail should not be ”causing damage to listed buildings as a means to achieve new services”.