The Elizabeth Line Wins RIBA London Building of the Year Award 2024

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21 May 2024

The Elizabeth Line has been named the winner of the RIBA London Building of the Year Award 2024.

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The judges said the overall design felt “significantly different from other tube lines” with spaces “decluttered and calm”. They also noted how the design adopts a clear visual language and has a consistent material palette and approach to detailing. 

The aim of the design, a collaborative effort by Grimshaw, Maynard, Equation and Atkins, was to provide users with as coherent an experience as possible, create a familiar feel, improve comfort for cross-London travel, ease navigation and flow, and standardise elements. 

Picture: a photograph showing one of the main Elizabeth Line routes at Liverpool Street Station, showing the famous curved edges. Image Credit: © Hufton + Crow

In terms of sustainable construction, RIBA praised the project for creating its own benchmarks:

“The initial whole life carbon assessment revealed that a huge amount of carbon would be used in the creation of the tunnels. (Almost 100 per cent of excavated material was diverted from landfill and deposited at a nature reserve in Essex.) The 120-year lifespan of the project meant that much could be attributed to operational energy, far outweighing the embodied carbon created. This realigned the focus on the operation and maintenance of the scheme, with easily replaceable and accessible elements. Ultimately, the team created their own benchmarks, which has resulted in this being one of the UK’s most sustainable infrastructure projects.”

The Elizabeth Line opened on 24 May 2022, named after Queen Elizabeth II. It boasts 62 miles of track, 26 miles of new tunnels, 10 new and 31 upgraded stations including some 9–10 storeys below ground, and is anticipated to carry 200 million passengers per year.

RIBA London Award Winners 2024

• 22 Handyside Street
• Abbey Wood Station
• 67 Southwark Street
• All Saints
• Battersea Power Station Phase Two
• Bradbury Works
• Brent Cross Town Visitor Centre
• Chowdhury Walk
• Dover Court Estate
• Dukes Meadow Footbridge
• Fish Island Village
• Hampstead House
• King’s Cross Masterplan
• Leighton House
• London South Bank University Hub
• Love Walk II
• National Portrait Gallery
• Paddington Elizabeth Line Station
• Peckham House
• Pitzanger Hub
• Rotherhithe Primary School
• Royal Academy of Dance
• Shakespeare Tower, Barbican
• Six Columns
• Somerset Road Covered Courts: All England Lawn Tennis Club
• Southwark House Renovation
• St Andrew Holborn
• St John’s Waterloo
• Sunday Mills
• Sycamore House
• Thames Christian School & Battersea Chapel
• The Africa Centre
• The Arbour
• The Black & White Building
• The Department Store Studios
• The Learning Tree Nursery
• The Parcels Building
• The Tree House
• Unity Place

Picture: a photograph of a platform at Woolwich's Elizabeth Line station, showing a seating area and signage. Image Credit: © Crossrail

Article written by Ella Tansley | Published 21 May 2024

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