The Bristol Railway Archive

From Heritage Railway.co.uk

Historic Paddington Span Four may be demolished

WHILE Britain celebrates the 200th anniversary of the birth of engineering genius Isambard Kingdom Brunel, plans to demolish part of his GWR terminus at Paddington are going ahead.

Architectural and engineering historians have protested at Network Rail's proposals to remove Span Four of the train shed.
Although Span Four was designed in 1913, 54 years after Brunel's death, engineer WY Armstrong faithfully copied the original design, right down to reproducing the stars and planets decoration on the great curved ribs that support the roof.

The span is covered by the stationÆs Grade I listed building status û but that does not seem to be able to afford it sufficient protection.
Westminster Council has already given outline planning permission for the demolition after eight years of talks with the owner of the national network, while English Heritage has agreed listed-building consent, provided that major improvements are made to Brunel's original part of the terminus.

Network Rail wants to replace the span with new platforms, and build a major retail and office development. If the scheme goes ahead, it will be the biggest Grade I building to be knocked down since listing status was introduced after WWII.

The station was built by Brunel as the starting point of his Great Western Railway. His engineering work on the entire network from London to the West Country has been proposed for World Heritage Site status.

Marcus Binney, president of the conservation charity Save, which had studied the proposal in detail, said: "It will be a tragedy if demolition is approved in 2006, the 200th anniversary of Brunel's birth."

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The campaign to "Save Span Four":

http://www.savebritainsheritage.org/spanfour.html

Save Britain's Heritage main page:

http://www.savebritainsheritage.org

Also from The Guardian:

Dedicatory demolition job for Brunel 200

By Maev Kennedy / Art & Architecture/ Heritage 11:45am

The bicentenary of the engineering genius Isambard Kingdom Brunel may be marked in a manner somewhat less celebratory than is customary. For in addition to the array of commemorative coins and stamps, plans are well afoot to demolish part of Brunel's masterpiece, Paddington station.

Architectural and engineering historians are aghast at Network Rail's proposals to demolish Span Four of the station, a cathedral-sized train shed built to extend Brunel's masterpiece in a manner fully in keeping with the original designs.

Transport historian Bill Piggott said the demolition would be "akin to the amputation of a limb". Marcus Binney, president of the conservation charity Save, which today publishes a withering report on the proposal, said: "It will be a tragedy if demolition is approved in 2006, the 200th anniversary of Brunel's birth."


Although Span Four was designed in 1913, over half a century after Brunel's death, the engineer W Y Armstrong followed the original down to reproducing the stars and planets decoration punched into the great curved ribs supporting the roof.

Span Four is covered by the Grade I listing of the station, built by Brunel as the starting point of his Great Western Railway. His engineering work on the entire network from London to the West Country has been proposed for World Heritage Site status.

If Network Rail proceeds with the demolition, it will be the largest Grade I structure to be destroyed since the listing system began in 1945.

The planning authority, Westminster council, has already granted outline permission, and English Heritage has agreed listed building consent, in return for major improvements to Brunel's part of the station.

Network Rail proposes to replace it with new platforms, and a major retail and office development. A spokesman said they were proud and mindful of their Brunel heritage, but described Span Four as "a bit of pastiche".

Engineering historians have fiercely rejected the pastiche argument. Structural engineer James Sutherland calls this argument "absurd", and argues "the station as a whole is a masterpiece". Mr Binney called Span Four "an extraordinarily well-judged structure, which holds its own yet does not overwhelm Brunel's work."

The cover of John Betjeman's study of London's great railway terminals, which did much to revive interest in them, was a photograph showing the swooping perspective along Brunel's Span Three and Armstrong's Span Four. It is not easy for today's traveller to share this vision, but by pressing on between the Burger King and Ladbroke stalls at Paddington, through a dismal warren of scaffolding and filthy chipboard, and gazing up above the bicycle racks, a gap in the hoarding allows a glimpse of soaring curved steel and glass.

The whole structure was boxed in 13 years ago, supposedly for public safety reasons. The sad truth is that before the public ever gets a chance to judge between pastiche and the last bloom of the heroic age of railway engineering, Span Four may be lost forever.