New Year, New King's Cross

Cranes, Coffee Chatter, Contractors and Churches

"Slightly more to the left, that's it."

Join the dots.

Duck impression!

Something is being planned outside Costa.

The Metroland Effect on Swindon's Housing?

How much extra monetary value would you put on making your commute shorter?

If your journey to and from work could be reduced by 5 or 10 minutes, how much value would you put on that?

That's an extra 10 minutes eating breakfast, or an extra 10 minutes talking face-to-face to your family, or an extra 10 minutes asleep!

The value placed on the time saved through the reduced journey times between London and Bristol with the Great Western Main Line upgrade is expected to be millions added to the collective value of houses in the city.

A cut of 20 minutes on the journey time will save commuters more time and increase the attractiveness of Bristol and in the same upgrade, Swindon should come down to the 45 minute journey time mark (this is a modest estimation based on the speed and length of the route, under 45 minutes would be possible with a recasting of the timetable).

You could leave a workplace in London, travel to Swindon and be in your home within the hour, what an opportunity!

Notes : Metroland was the name given to the areas of the expanded Metropolitan Railway north west of London which was heavily tied and influenced by housebuilding and essentially created the modern definition of commuting.

Swindon's Regeneration : The Last Leg

Things from above.

The Swindon Railway Station Forecourt project has been dogged by obstacles, weather, utility companies and the need to keep the area open 24 hours a day without disrupting the operations of the station.

But in a short while, it'll all be done and looking down from above last week, the greenery is making a big impact. Once the paving is finished, a vast pedestrianised space will greet passengers, with seats, trees and what's called 'wayfinding' in evidence through the arrangement of the street furniture. Even if people don't notice the new map and sign in front of the main doors, the paving, arrangement of the trees and crossing will help to direct people towards the bus station and town centre.

Swindon's Regeneration : Swindon, Works

Swindon's newest artwork gives a salute to the past and a glimpse to the future.

Today's unveiling of the newly refurbished Great Western Underpass gives a real hint of how Swindon has finally begun to embrace it's heritage as a key selling-point.

Along one wall is a set of portraits of rail workers through the ages, right up to the present day. Finished in Great Western green, the images are backlit, creating a dramatic installation piece as you walk between Churchward and Bristol Street. On the opposite wall, in big chunky steel lettering are the words 'Swindon Works'.

The quote from artist Bruce Williams sums it up nicely, "On the opposite wall in gleaming letters read the words SWINDON WORKS, which is the name of the site but could also read as a hopeful slogan for the future."

The Long & The Tall of It

Here's a portrait of fellow photographer Jordy Day taken during yesterday's visit to the forecourt of Swindon Railway Station. Fellow photographer Ed Howell and I are keen to take more portraits as the project goes on, of the Britannia workers, passengers, and station staff.

The strange contrast of this picture is that it was taken 12 vertigo-inducing storeys up on the roof of the Signal Point building, Jordy is shorter than me, but is as high as I am on a ladder. Perspective, sight lines and expectations are all being skewed!

The question is, can you spot which camera she's using to get the great view down onto Swindon on that sunny afternoon?

Photography & Deckchair Weather

Work continues apace on Swindon Railway Station's forecourt. With blazing sunshine and a 17 degree temperature everyone was in a great mood, plus it was a Friday, so that helped!

The retaining wall by the new drop-off point.

Today's visit saw the retaining wall by the new drop-off point (located just along Station Road) nearing completion with the concrete now covered in tiling.

The paved area leading from the station entrance doors, across the forecourt, over Station Road and towards Wellington Street. Four different shades of paving have been used and a splash of water shows the varying tones. 

Big areas of concrete continue to vanish under all the different shapes, sizes, colours and textures of paving. Dan washed down a section of the main walkway that will lead across Station Road. Instantly, with the dust washed off, you could make out the four shades of paving used in this one section. At the moment, the entire site is covered in a layer of fine white dust, a wash will give the whole space a dramatically different look (especially to the Britannia team and regular visitors). 

A new light column ready to be installed.

The new light columns are in the process of being installed, making an interesting contrast with the originals (which are still in original Great Western Trains green and ivory from 1996!).

From the roof, the reality starts to really resemble the plans and drawings.

The current view from Swindon Railway Station's Signal Point building.

In the next week or so, the central area will be opened to the public, whilst work shifts to the areas that are currently open. Once they're done, all the pieces will become one new pedestrian forecourt for Swindon.

New forecourt soon arriving!

Curves, Vertigo & Wind Chill (And Wembley)

The shape of the paving, starting to resemble the drawings in the site office, as seen from 12-storeys up (click on the images for a closer look).

Looking over a wall isn't normally encouraged, especially so when the wall has a 12-storey drop over the other side of it!

Today saw a second visit to the roof of Swindon Railway Station's Signal Point building, continuing the Swindon Rail Station project.

Graham and Dan from Britannia (the contractor for the work) also came up for a look. Just before, in the site office, they showed the highly-detailed plan for the paving on the forecourt. Areas of different paving are separated by intersecting, curved lines (inspired by the gradual curved map lines of the Great Western Railway).

At ground level, the paving, curves and yet-to-be-filled plots of ground looks like a headache-inducing jigsaw puzzle, but through a handheld device (it was yellow and looked like one of those electronic signing devices when a parcel's delivered), the exact places are plotted and followed to the designer's letter.

Zooming in, the smooth curves and shapes of the design can be seen and understood, giving a flavour of what the finished forecourt will look like (click on the image for a closer look).

From the roof, seeing the initial area of paving being worked on gave a great sense of what the finished work will look like and the style of the whole works.

We're planning to do weekly roof-top visits to give a better step-by-step sense of the work from this great bird's eye view.

And finally...

The County Ground, recovering after last night's pitch invasion and win, next stop Wembley, now, wouldn't that be something to photograph...! (Click on the image for a closer look)

Let's Take The Stairs

Ed Howell taking in the view.

Getting a perspective on things often means stepping back from them.

Or in some cases, stepping higher, a lot higher!

As part of the project with Forward Swindon on documenting the Swindon Rail Station Forecourt work, Ed Howell and I were able to photograph from the roof of Swindon railway station today.

Looking South towards the town centre, with the silver David Murray John building dominating the scene. The blue glass building is the Western Regional offices of Network Rail and the lower white buildings in the foreground are the UK offices of Zurich Financial Services.

The 12-storey building, called Signal Point is the second highest building in Swindon after the David Murray John building at the heart of the Brunel Shopping Centre.

And the view, even on a blustery, cloudy day, was fascinating!

Looking down to the station forecourt, with Britannia Construction contractors at work on the new pedestrian plaza.

Over to the North side, with a First Great Western Westbound train arriving.

Forward Swindon

You never get a second chance to make a first impression and Swindon is currently working on somewhere that gives one of those first impressions.

The forecourt of Swindon railway station is, over the next 8 months, undergoing a facelift, and fellow photographer Ed Howell and myself will be following the work closely. Working in partnership with Forward Swindon, Britannia Construction, First Great Western and Network Rail, we will be creating a photographic record of the site, the work, the customers and the contractors.

Facelifts aren't pretty, but try carrying one out in full public view, with everyone watching!

Regular updates will be posted, so check back soon.

Links

Forward Swindon Station Forecourt Project : http://www.forwardswindon.co.uk/For-Development/Projects/Station-Forecourt

Britannia Construction : http://www.britanniaconstruction.co.uk/

First Great Western : http://firstgreatwestern.co.uk/Default.aspx

Network Rail : http://www.networkrail.co.uk/aspx/121.aspx