The consultation into plans to redevelop Liverpool Street station, having previously shown the passenger concourse, has now shown off the plans for the oversite development that’ll pay for it.

A very substantial slab of a building, a mix of hotel and offices, is planned to sit above the station, which anywhere else in the City would probably be a good addition to the area, but here, it sits very uncomfortably as a dominant feature overwhelming the area.

The proposal, as put forward by the developer, is that Liverpool Street station needs an upgrade and that the oversite development is the only way to fund it. However, many of the changes being proposed seem less to do with improving the station than providing structural support for the oversite development, and the headline figure of £450 million worth of upgrades is mostly being spent on the works needed to support the offices, not functional upgrades for the station itself.

It’s undeniable that the station could do with improvements. The exits lack enough escalators and it’s feeling its age these days, but the quantum of upgrades that will fix problems with the station is only a small fraction of the headline figure being spent.

While pitched as a development that will fund station upgrades, in truth, this is a development looking for a site to build on. Had they found a plot of land elsewhere, the cost of buying it and clearing the land would be not significantly different to the £450 million cost of “upgrading” Liverpool Street station.

Unable to find a large enough plot of land to develop in London, they’ve come up with the idea of building above a railway station, which is not in itself a bad idea, but the development that’s being proposed sits so ill at ease with the surrounding area that it’ll swamp the station.

A very large glass slab sits above the station, turning the Victorian hotel that currently wraps around the side of the station into more of a mere facade on the corner of a modern building. Had there been a stronger visual gap between the two, it might have been more acceptable, but the new and old slam into each other in a most unappealing manner.

There’s a lack of decorum between the two.

Almost anywhere else, this would be an acceptable development. A mid-rise groundscraper with an open roof garden, leisure facilities, and yes, the not entirely unappealing vertical striped design would be a good addition to the City of London.

However, sitting it on top of the station raises the height to an uncomfortable level for such a large mass of a building such that it will lord over the area rather than being complimentary to it. It’s a very wide slab in an area that’s either a mix of low-rise heritage or modern slender towers – it’s a fattypuff in an area of thinifers.

Most of the images look at the development from the western side, but to give an idea of what it might look like from the eastern side of the station – this is an unrelated rejected proposal for a development by Foster+Partners in Whitechapel. Imagine that sitting on top of the Victorian hotel, as that’s the view most people will see as they approach the station from the Bishopsgate side.

I am no architecutral luddite. I love good modern buildings, and think the city cluster down the road has been a success, and often good modern additions can work wonderfully well as an enhancement to older buildings. I even, contrary to popular opinion, quite like the Sky Garden tower on Fenchurch Street.

This development though?

Yick!

The consultation is here.

The public consultation is open today until 7pm at 1901 Ballroom in the Andaz Hotel next to Liverpool Street station.

If approved, the initial development programme estimates construction beginning in 2024 with completion in 2028/2029.