Paddington Station

The most recently decorated 'span 4' at Paddington

A trip to Exeter and back this last weekend reminded me that Paddington is one of the pleasanter London station for travellers. This is thanks to brilliant engineering in Victorian times and recent refurbishment  which was initially carried out according to a design by the architect Nicholas Grimshaw. Network Rail publishes a mini-guide to the features of the station.

Polished limestone has brightened the platforms while travellers can wait and shop in the Lawn - an area that was long ago station master's garden.

Paddington was built using the same techniques as the Crystal Palace. It opened in 1854 just three years after the Great Exhibition.

Brunel at Paddington

The statue near the entrance on platform 1 celebrates the engineer, Brunel, who worked with the architects and designers Matthew Digby Wyatt and Owen Jones to create this spectacular station. 

Already much of the redecorated ironwork has been blackened by the soot from the diesel locomotives. However the line of arches in 'span 4' is showing the glory of the colour scheme because it has only recently been unveiled. 

Meanwhile the next engineering challenge is the design and construction of an underground addition to Paddington as part of Crossrail.