English Heritage (EH) has published a report which it claims demonstrates that the East London Line could be extended without demolishing Bishopsgate Goodsyard.
According to the report, Delivering the Goods, the extension and the new Shoreditch station could be built on top of the existing vaults and arches.
The Braithwaite Viaduct, a central feature of the Victorian goodsyard, was listed last month.
The report’s recommendations include:
- retention of “the existing Goodsyard structure and the variety of commercial activities and uses it contains”
- construction of the East London Line and Shoreditch station on top of the existing Goodsyard
- creation of a “sensitive mixed-use development above the Goodsyard which reflects the scale and diversity of the surrounding area”
- creation of a “park in the sky” and a pedestrian/cycle path to surrounding green spaces
- new links between the Goodsyard and Brick Lane, Shoreditch, the City and the Boundary Estate
Sir Neil Cossons, EH’s chairman, said: “The issues and ideas contained in the report must be considered as part of the future masterplan for the area.”
Cossons added that London Underground’s plans to “reduce it to a pile of rubble with no clear idea of what will replace it, would be tragic”.
EH has also published an engineering report from Alan Baxter Associates which it claims confirms that the Goodsyard’s viaduct could carry the proposed extension to the East London Line.
EGi News 25/04/02
