West Croydon Bus Station

West Croydon Bus Station by architect Martin Eriksson : Photography: Copyright © Alex Upton

West Croydon Bus Station is a small architectural gem which sits atop a tarmac island marooned by a sea of red busses and the occasional tram - approximately 150 buses every hour to be more precise. The new station forms part of a continuing £50 million investment into the area with the aim to improve the public realm and transport infrastructure. The new station is designed to cope with a 20 percent increase in passenger capacity and provide a brighter more spacious environment than its predecessor once did. Upon the stations completion in late 2016 I was commissioned by Structura to photograph the development focusing on the Kalwall canopy which illuminates the station.

Architectural photography of West Croydon Bus Station

Taking long exposure architectural photographs amongst a maelstrom of people, buses and trams requires a heightened sense of awareness, increased agility and a level of patience which would test even the most stoic of architectural photographers. The fact that the winter sun faded around 5:00 pm coinciding with the exodus of city workers, shoppers and school children made the mission even more difficult. Yet it is at this time when the station looks its most elegant, with the brick and rust covered supports bathed in the incandescent lighting which emits from below the canopy. The Kalwall panels which form the stations roof structure increase the luminosity offered by these lights and by day allow diffused daylight to naturally light the station.

The stations striking and ambitious design came from the imagination of TFL’s own in-house architect Martin Eriksson, a former trainee at Herzog and de Meuron’s prestigious architectural practice. Acknowledgement of the bus station’s architectural merits came in 2017 when Martin won the accolade of RIBA Regional Project Architect of the Year for his efforts.

TFL’s new West Croydon Bus Station sits alongside the tramlines.

With around eight million passengers expected to use the station each year and more to come it is hoped the station will spark the regeneration of other parts of the town and help maintain the momentum in improving the travel experience for passengers at other strategic infrastructure locations.

The Stations use of natural lighting, earthy colours – which take inspiration from the neighbouring St Michael's Church - and the inclusion of trees and plants means it offers a glimpse of salvation from the grey urbanity that intermittently envelops it – even if that momentary retreat is to wait for the next bus. To see more of my architectural photographs of West Croydon Bus Station please head over to the projects section of my portfolio.

Project Team:

Architect: TFL's In-house Architect Martin Eriksson
Location: West Croydon, London, UK
Developer: Transport for London
Photography Client: Structura
Architectural Photographer: Alex Upton

Die Zeit Newspaper Feature

One of my recent photographs of the Tate Modern Switch House extension was featured in the German weekly newspaper Die Zeit, the typographic layout nicely incorporates the buildings form into the design. 

Newport Street Gallery by Caruso St John

Newport Street Gallery by London Architecture Studio Caruso St John. All images Copyright © Alex Upton

Located in Vauxhall, London, just a short walk from the Thames River and running parallel to an elevated section of railway is architectural practice Caruso St John’s Newport Street Gallery. The building opened its doors to the public in early 2015. As an architectural photographer I was excited to pay a visit since hearing about the inaugural exhibition of work by Sheffield-born abstract painter John Hoyland last year and had been intending to make a trip there with my camera to photograph the buildings impressive interior and exterior spaces. The recent exhibition of work by artist Jeff Koons provided such an opportunity.

Architectural Photography of Newport Street Gallery’s Main Entrance.

The gallery is comprised of several former theatre warehouses which have been converted by London architecture studio Caruso St John to house Damien Hirst’s growing collection of contemporary art which consists of some 3000 or so pieces. The 3,400 square-meter gallery, although large, isn't capable of such a feat, but still provides ample space for individual artist shows. In addition to the exhibition space the building also contains a restaurant called the Pharmacy², which takes Damien Hirst’s iconic Medicine Cabinet installations as its point of reference for both the name and its interior design inspiration. Located at the opposite end of the gallery, in a space separate from the rest of the building, is a shop where books and selected works and prints can be purchased.

Contrasting the old and new brickwork along Newport Street Gallery’s facade.

In the wake of its opening the building has slowly been picking up a host of prestigious awards, most notably the RIBA 2016 Stirling Prize, along with the RIBA National Award 2016 and RIBA London Award 2016. In addition to this it also picked up the top prize at the Brick Development Association (BDA) Brick Awards for its well considered juxtaposition of old and new brickwork which makes up the facade. The architectural photography I took of the buildings exterior aims to convey this integration of old and new brickwork, showing the irregular transitions and multicoloured surfaces that come together to form the buildings outer skin.

A sense of architectural scale - contrasting the former industrial warehouse with the galleries new office space.

The galleries close proximity to the adjacent railway line makes it tricky to photograph the building’s exterior in its entirety face-on, which is unfortunate for the changes in brickwork, architectural detailing and form would look great from this perspective. Yet with this minor limitation the architectural photographs of Newport Street Gallery which I took still look great when solely focusing on individual segments of the building. A case in point, the image above contrasts the structure of the former industrial warehouse with the newly built section housing the galleries office space.

Interior Photography of Newport Street Gallery Exhibition Space - Artwork by Jeff Koons.

Moving inside, the galleries interiors spaces are bright and spacious, as would be expected of a modern gallery, with high ceilings providing ample space to accommodate large sculptures and installations; Jeff Koons’s giant stainless steel sculpture of a balloon-shaped dog was occupying such a space at the time of writing. With interior photography being reliant on the use of a tripod to stabilise the camera, and this being a personal visit, I only managed to capture a few handheld images from inside, but would love the opportunity to return one day and photograph the space with the necessary photographic equipment.

One of the nicest architectural features inside the gallery are the spiral staircases which provide access to the galleries second floor of exhibition space. The staircases themselves, of which there are three, all slightly different in form and geometry, are surrounded by a white engineered brick which follows their curvature all the way to the top of the building. 

Photography of Newport Street Galleries Spiral Staircase.

Newport Street Gallery is an incredibly successful piece of architecture, it manages to be subtle yet captivating, the more elaborate and expressive parts of the building are restricted to the stairwells and exterior while the artworks are allowed to take centre stage in the exhibition spaces. This careful balance of creating a beautifully detailed building which fails to overshadow the artwork is quite an achievement and something which is often neglected in many new-build art galleries. Here artwork and architecture exist in harmony, so whether you are going to appreciate the artwork, architecture, or both, you will no doubt be impressed by at least one of them.

Project Team:

Architect: Caruso St John (Peter St John)
Client: Science UK Limited (Damien Hirst)
Main Contractor: Walter Lilly
M&E consultant: Max Fordham
M&E contractor: Piggott and Whitfield
Architectural Photographer: Alex Upton

Project Update: Seven Kings Primary School

Seven Kings Primary School - Photography: Copyright © Alex Upton

Architectural photographs I took detailing the external cladding installation above the entrance to Seven Kings Primary School in east London have been recently added to my portfolio. The project commissioned by Taylor Maxwell was to detail the metal cladding strips that run vertically down the buildings facade. Although only covering a small area of the building they make for some really interesting compositions.