Train Station Utilitarian Structures in Classic Form

The numerous train stations of London provide clear examples of how contemporary materials, namely steel, iron, and brick, can be manipulated in such a way that allows them to be used to mimic the architectural styles of the past. Two train stations in particular, King’s Cross Station and St. Pancras Station, are two different examples of the same idea.

St. Pancras Station

King's Cross Station

King’s Cross Station is modeled after the Roman style of architecture, but is composed mainly of brick. Tradition would dictate that such a building would be created out of stone, and even marble. The creator of the station, Lewis Cubitt, did not have the conservative notion of John Ruskin guiding him. Brick was easier to build with as it was lighter and much less expensive than the stone that tradition would dictate be used. The use of brick also added a new aesthetic to the building, making it have a different appearance than similarly structured buildings that used stone.

Like King’s Cross Station, St. Pancras Station similarly stands as a mix of the past and present. Though instead of using brick to cover a Roman exterior, St. Pancras Station, designed by George Gilbert Scott, uses hidden steel beams for support, shaped in the 13th century French Gothic style. Even though it is a gothic structure composed of steel and brick, it hides much of its steel backbone, unlike the Oxford Museum, which is designed in the British Gothic style. It does not hide its expanded steel arches in the train shed though, but these exposed steel girders are shaped in such a way that would make them more acceptable to architectural purists. Unlike the Oxford Museum arches, the St. Pancras arches are stretched horizontally, and come in greater frequency. This makes them less obvious while still allowing them to serve their function. They continue to support the building and manage to keep the general characteristics of a gothic building, without being intrusive or explicit. The overall effect is much softer and subtle. This may be in part because the two styles, while gothic in nature, come from two different schools of gothic.

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