Liverpool Street Station: £1.5bn revamp plan consultation begins

The developer of The Shard has begun a public consultation for its proposed £1.5bn redevelopment of Liverpool Street Station.

The plans by developer Sellar include removing the 1980s roof and original station entrance, and constructing a 10-storey hotel and office block.

The site's owner, Network Rail, says the project will provide "long-lasting benefits".

But critics including the Victorian Society argue heritage will be lost.

As part of the scheme, Sellar has employed architects Herzog & De Meuron to design the new facilities.

Sellar is working with train operator MTR and Network Rail alongside Transport for London and the site's Hyatt Andaz hotel to deliver the plans.

The new complex would feature office, retail and leisure spaces, with new public and green areas around the immediate vicinity. The original ballroom of the Grade II-listed hotel, formerly the Great Eastern Hotel, would be open to the public for the first time.

Sellar said the works would also achieve £450m in "upgrades to alleviate access, capacity and overcrowding issues to transform the passenger experience for millions of station users", at no cost to taxpayers or fare-paying travellers.

It argues this will create better step-free access and improve accessibility across the station, with the installation of seven disabled lifts instead of one that exists currently.

The original Victorian building dates back to the 1870s, and during World War Two the station served as a destination where some 10,000 children arrived on Kindertransport fleeing Nazi persecution.

More recently, it has become one of the capital's busiest train stations and new platforms were built for the Elizabeth line, which opened fully this month.

The station's architecture is recognised as some of the finest of its era, especially its glass roof, and has been the subject of a number of past campaigns to stop demolition or redevelopment of the site.

The Victorian Society, an organisation campaigning to protect Victorian and Edwardian buildings, has hit out at the proposals, which it said gave it "grave concerns", starting a funding web page to oppose the plans.

The society's director, Joe O'Donnell, said it was "extremely disappointing" that despite asking to be involved from "an early stage" this had not happened.

"Given Sellar's previous developments of the Paddington Cube and the Shard, this development is likely to overwhelm the listed building," he said.

Mr O'Donnell added the artist's impressions of the development "hint at the sky above the concourse being totally blocked out by a view of a new tower".

"If this scheme turns out to be as harmful to the listed building and surrounding conservation area as it seems, we will fight it," he said.

Meanwhile, Robin Dobson, group property director at Network Rail, said: "The plans would transform Liverpool Street station into an exciting mixed-use destination in its own right, whilst sensitively restoring and showcasing the station's heritage architecture.

"We're delivering it through a public and private partnership, which will provide long-lasting benefits for the local community and the region."

A public consultation submission form can be accessed via the website for the proposed development, and an exhibition at the Andaz London Liverpool Street hotel closes later.

Sellar said it anticipated submitting a planning application in 2023.

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