Glasgow Queen Street Station

The design creates an accessible, welcoming building. The dramatic new roof animates the passenger journey, its form signalling the principal entrances. Internal re-planning improves connections to the low level platforms and bathes their stairs with light from the same clerestory window that provides views of the train shed from the new concourse.

The lighting concept guides the passenger from the Victorian platforms through to the forecourt, into one of the largest Georgian squares in Britain. The defining architectural feature is the golden clad soffit, softly illuminated internally and externally from discreet locations and highly visible from the concourse and the street. Luminaires with controlled optics and shielding accessories were used to light from such long distances and keep glare to a minimum, with warm colour temperature 2700K specified to accentuate the golden finish. The stone walls were highlighted, the junction between vertical stone and soffit delineated with a shadow gap halo of light. The lighting had to be integrated wherever possible. The high ceilings, both modern and historic, are washed with light, with column mounted luminaires on the platforms, integrated lighting to the glazed facades and linear details into the angled ceilings. Stairs and ramps use handrail lighting, reducing the requirement for high output. This localised illumination diminishes shadowing while also creating a sense of human scale drama. The new station is a confident new civic building in the heart of the city. Its gold anodised aluminium cladding makes it a beacon at night and reflects Glasgow’s built heritage.