search archive

browse archive Up

055/056/057/058/059/060 - Great Western Railway Paddington Station [New Station]

Object Type: Folder
In Folder: Historical Engineering Collection

▲

Expand to show object metadata

055/056/057/058/059/060 - Great Western Railway Paddington Station [New Station]

For the London terminus of the Great Western Railway (GWR), Isambard Kingdom Brunel was planning a grand building at Paddington, situated near to both the Grand Junction canal and the Regent’s canal. Instructed by the GWR to economise due to the soaring costs of building the main line, Brunel had to abandon his original plans. A temporary station was created using the arches of Bishop’s Bridge Road as a façade and to provide passenger facilities. This station opened on 4 June 1838, along with the new line which had been constructed as far as Maidenhead. As the main line through to Bristol was opened, and the GWR’s involvement with other companies whose railways joined with the main line increased, the temporary terminus was extended. In 1850, to accommodate the increasing traffic, the GWR agreed to the construction of a new permanent station to be designed by Brunel. Brunel was deeply influenced by the design and construction of the Crystal Palace for the Great Exhibition of 1851, and this can be seen in his use of wrought iron and glass in the three-span roof at Paddington. At the time, this was the largest train shed roof in the world with a main span (102’ 6”) and two smaller ones to the north (70’) and south (68’). These spans are crossed by two transepts, all overlooked by three oriel windows in the station building on today’s platform 1. The station decoration, including the iron tracery on the train shed screens, was provided by Matthew Digby-Wyatt, Brunel’s architect on the project. Fox Henderson & Company, were contracted as builders for the station. The main station building, which included offices, the new boardroom for the GWR and a royal waiting room, was constructed along Eastbourne Terrace. The Great Western Hotel was built along Praed Street, and opened in conjunction with the new Paddington Station in 1854. Brunel’s station was large enough to cope with the expansion of the Great Western Railway over the next 50 years. By the early 20th century new accommodation for increasing amounts of both traffic and employees was needed. On-going works from 1904 saw the footprint of Paddington Station increase, a more defined access area known as ‘The Lawn’ was created and more office space was created by extending the Company’s offices along Eastbourne Terrace. Major changes included the building of ‘Span 4’ between 1913 and 1916 which increased the number of platforms at the station, and today covers platforms 9 to 16. It was designed by the GWR’s engineer, W Armstrong, with architectural features to match Brunel’s original roof as closely as possible. Further expansion of station buildings took place in the 1930s, including a striking new ‘art deco’ office block on the west side of the station, which also remodelled passenger facilities in ‘The Lawn’. During the 1990s Paddington Station was extensively refurbished, with the glass in Brunel’s original roof replaced with polycarbonate glazing panels, the restoration of Digby-Wyatt’s ornamental tracing and significant improvements to The Lawn. A proposal to take down ‘Span 4’ to accommodate facilities for Crossrail was controversial. Between 2009 and 2010 the Edwardian roof was instead restored by Network Rail and Crossrail facilities are now housed underneath Eastbourne Terrace.

Network Rail Corporate Archive

Level of Description: Series

Reference Code: NRCA160588 - NRCA163325

Title: Great Western Railway - Paddington Station [New Station]

Extent and Medium: 183 drawings

Creator: Great Western Railway

Date: 1845-1932

Scope and Content: Drawings from the Great Western Railway for the New Station at Paddington dated between 1845 and 1932. Designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel.

Contract Number: Paddington New Station

Drawing Number: n/a

Drawing Office Number: n/a

Keywords (Person): Brunel, Isambard Kingdom

Keywords (Country): England

Keywords (Structure Name): London Paddington Station

Keywords (Structure Type): Station

Show more ▼

View Gallery

Title

Description

Date

Great Western Railway Paddington Station Drawing No.3 – New Season Ticket Office Steelwork

Paddington Station. Eight drawings on one sheet. Drawings are of elevation from booking hall and various sections including plan of stanchion head. Drawing is signed by WW Grierson, Sleabold and Hunt and Son.

15 September 1904

Great Western Railway Paddington Station Drawing No.2 – New Extension of office over Royal Waiting Room

Paddington Station. Three drawings on one sheet. First drawing is of an elevation, second drawing is of a plan, third drawing is of detail of ring handle. Drawing is signed by Grierson, and contractors A Jackman and Son on 23rd April 1906 and a witness.

19 February 1906

Great Western Railway Paddington Station Drawing – New Extension of Office over Royal Waiting Room Elevation of Office and Waiting Room

Paddington Station. New extension of office over Royal Waiting Room. Three drawings on one sheet. First drawing is of section on line AB, second drawing is of section on line CD, third drawing is of plan of 1st floor. Drawing is signed by Grierson.

20 February 1904

Great Western Railway Paddington Station – New Season Ticket Office Screen Details

Paddington Station. New season ticket office. Three drawings on one sheet all of screen details for new season ticket office.

1904-1906

Great Western Railway Paddington Station Drawing No.1 – New Season Ticket Office &c at Paddington Station Elevation of Oak Screen

Paddington Station new season ticket office. Thirteen drawings on one sheet. Drawings are of elevations of deal screen, floor plans, various sections and an elevation of oak screen. Drawing is signed by WW Grierson, Sleabold and Hunt and Son.

17 December 1904

1 2 3 … 8 9 10 11

055/056/057/058/059/060 - Great Western Railway Paddington Station [New Station]

Great Western Railway Paddington Station Drawing No.3 – New Season Ticket Office Steelwork

Great Western Railway Paddington Station Drawing No.2 – New Extension of office over Royal Waiting Room

Great Western Railway Paddington Station Drawing – New Extension of Office over Royal Waiting Room Elevation of Office and Waiting Room

Great Western Railway Paddington Station – New Season Ticket Office Screen Details

Great Western Railway Paddington Station Drawing No.1 – New Season Ticket Office &c at Paddington Station Elevation of Oak Screen

Great Western Railway Paddington Station Alterations Contract No.14 Drawing No.2 – Details of New Main Roof

Great Western Railway Paddington Station Alterations Contract No.14 Drawing No.8 – Details of New Main Roof

Great Western Railway Paddington Station – Plan of Platforms 1-8

Great Western Railway Paddington Station Drawing No.4 – Additional Offices Further Girder Details

New Paddington Station – Timber framing for permanent way departure lines

New Paddington Station – Skylights

Paddington – Truck for carrying luggage from Hotel

New Paddington Station – Alterations to line at second platform

Retaining and Approach Walls Contract H Exhibited Copy Paddington Station

Paddington Station Alterations – Details of Tie Rod etc. to New Span of Roof

GWR – Paddington Station Alterations – Detail of End Screen – Amended Drawing

GWR – Turnbuckles – Link Plates – Paddington Station Alterations

GWR – Paddington Station – Alterations – Details of Tie Rod to New Span of Roof