What this is
Station Quarter Tower is a concept, not a completed building. It explores one of the hardest settings for a tall building: the air above a station that has to keep running every day of the works.
Concept project
Station Quarter Tower
A concept for a mixed-use tower built over a working rail station, carried on a transfer structure so the trains never stop while the tower rush goes on above them.
Building over the tracks
Columns cannot simply come down through the platforms. Instead, a deep steel transfer structure spans across the tracks and gathers the tower's loads onto a few strong supports placed between them. Everything above that level is a fairly ordinary tower; everything below is a careful negotiation with the railway.
How we would phase it
Night possessions
Piles and supports between the tracks are built in short night-time closures, with the line back in service each morning.
The transfer deck
Steel trusses are assembled to the side and slid across the tracks in sections, forming a protected deck over the station.
Core and tower rush
With the deck in place, the core climbs and the floors follow in a regular cycle, while trains run below the protection deck.
Plaza and links
The base is finished as a public square, with new routes from the platforms straight into the tower and the street.
What we would watch closely
- Vibration and noise from the trains reaching offices and homes above, handled with isolated bearings.
- Fire separation between the station and the tower.
- Every lift over the tracks, planned around train times.
- Keeping passengers' routes clear and well signed for the whole job.
About the images
The render is an AI-generated concept visualisation and the section is our own concept drawing. They do not show an existing building.