The new Deptford Station opens
So without much fan-fair (well there is still a fair bit of work to do) the old entrances were closed off and small laminated signs pointing to the new entrance were stuck to the doors indicating that the time had finally arrived to say goodbye to grimy dankness and hello to shiny metal, glass and exposed brick.
The courtyard of the station is still to be worked on; the new station entrance is set back from the High Street and temporary wooden fencing has been erected around the old station where demolition work is still to be completed, but as you turn the corner, you can really see how impressive it’s going to be when all the work is properly finished. The new building is simple and modern and sits in happy contrast to the almost 200-year-old bricks which have been cleaned up to their impressive hues of reds, blacks, oranges, yellows and browns.
The height of the station (the ceiling extends up to platform level) and the fact that the staircase balustrades and walls are all finished in glass create a bright and airy space. The contrast couldn’t really be any greater when compared with the old station which was dark and musty and had gone way past the point of being able to be improved with a coat or two of paint.
Returning in the evening, the station is just as — if not more — impressive, as the lighting reflects in the glass and the whole space seems to somehow glow whilst not being oppressively stark. I can imagine feeling safe here no matter what time of day or night as the space is so open; not like the twisting and enclosed stairwell of the old station.
The work will now move onto the other parts of the project which are yet to be finished; concept artwork of this stage can be seen in these images by architects Dawson Horrell. The rest of the old station will be demolished to open up the courtyard further, and the ramped viaduct will be renovated back to former glory as a secondary walkway to Platform 1 — winding its way around from further down the High Street (where the Deptford Project Café currently sits). I believe the train carriage café will hopefully be repositioned to sit somewhere in the courtyard and demolition of some of the smaller lock-ups which currently run to the left hand side as you enter will also begin to allow this to happen.
Work to extend the platforms to take longer trains is to be delayed until after the Olympics which is a frustration for people who will have to cope with a continued period of noisy night works later in the year, but it may give them (and me!) a bit of a break at least.
