Waterloo Station

Revitalizing the former Eurostar terminal at Waterloo

As part of the transformation of the former Eurostar terminal, Interface was appointed to deliver the façade for the new 130,000 sq foot, three-level shopping complex. The brief was to keep the new facade design as close as possible to the original point-fixed monolithic toughened glass fin facade while adding functionality.

The project presented a unique set of complex design parameters:

  • The track bed above is a single monolithic concrete bridge and moves longitudinally by up to 53mm, depending on the season.
  • Each train entering the station deflects the platform by up to 19mm in a wave formation between the columns.

The facade detailing needed to accommodate these large movements.

The original, double-height glass façade hung from the track bed above and moved along with it, creating complexity at the base and at the pane/fin connections. Introducing an intermediate floor allowed Interface to restrain the facade at midpoint and use glass fins to restrain the base-supported facade glass panes. This both enabled the additional functionality and simplified the complexity of the movements.

The glass panes are restrained across the horizontal edges with a band of structural silicone. The central band is bonded on only one side, but still provides significant restraint to the glass panels. The joints between the glass panes are simple glass-to-glass joints with weather sealant.

The original pane/fin connections were through bespoke cast stainless steel brackets that allowed movements vertically and laterally while taking the in/out forces. These special castings were salvaged and incorporated into the new design, with their capacity verified by X-ray and destructive testing. While new special castings were needed to allow for the movement joints in the concrete slabs, they did not impact the original design.

These castings are also used at the new retail entrances where the glass fins are replaced with stainless steel of the same size, mimicking the triple laminated glass in their detailing.

Developer: LCR Property | Architect: Corstophine & Wright and Weston Williamson + Partners | Main Contractor: ISG | Cladding Contractor: Bellapart | Glass Supplier: Cricursa | Photographer: Nick Guttridge