Southwark tube station
Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use British English Template:Infobox London station
Southwark (Template:IPAc-en) is a London Underground station in the London Borough of Southwark at the corner of Blackfriars Road and The Cut. It is on the Jubilee line between Waterloo and London Bridge stations, and is located in London fare zone 1.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The station was opened on 20 November 1999 as part of the Jubilee Line Extension. It is Grade II listed.
History
The original plan for the Jubilee Line Extension did not include a station between those at Waterloo and London Bridge; Southwark station was added after lobbying by the local council as well as North Southwark and Bermondsey MP Simon Hughes.<ref name=":2">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=":02">Template:Cite book</ref>
The architects MacCormac, Jamieson, Prichard were appointed in January 1991 by the Jubilee Line Extension design team led by Roland Paoletti.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite book</ref> Planning approval for the station was given in 1992,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> with the contract to build the station and adjacent tunnels awarded to a joint venture of Aoki Corporation and Soletanche in November 1993 at a cost of £64 million.<ref name=":3">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=":022">Template:Cite book</ref> Construction began in 1994, with tunnelling beginning in April 1995.<ref name=":022" /><ref name=":1">Template:Cite web</ref>
Built on a cramped site, with its platforms underneath the Victorian main line viaduct between Waterloo East and London Bridge stations, the station presented significant technical and architectural difficulties which were resolved by constructing two concourses at different levels.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":022" /> Substantial compensation grouting was required to stabilise the railway viaducts.<ref name=":3" /> The station opened with the final phase of the Jubilee Line Extension on 20 November 1999.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Design
The station was designed by Sir Richard MacCormac of MacCormac, Jamieson, Prichard.<ref name=":02" /> Jubilee Line Extension project director Hugh Doherty called the station a "remarkable feat of engineering".<ref name=":0" />
The upper concourse is the centrepiece of the station. It is a space Template:Convert high with a glass roof that allows daylight to enter deep into the station.<ref name="UK-JLE-Profile">Template:Cite web</ref> It is faced with a spectacular glass wall, Template:Convert long, consisting of 660 specially cut pieces of blue glass, which was designed by the artist Alexander Beleschenko.<ref name=":1" /> MacCormac said the design of this and the lower concourse was inspired by a stage set design by 19th-century Prussian architect Karl Friedrich Schinkel for The Magic Flute.<ref name=":1" /> The wall is one of the extension's more celebrated architectural features, winning critical approval and a number of awards.
The two platforms have platform screen doors which are meant to prevent passengers or debris from falling onto the tracks. They are connected at each end to the lower concourse which is a simple tunnel between the platforms and is illuminated by glass and steel "beacons" at each end, and is faced with stainless steel panels, deliberately left unpolished.<ref name=":4">Template:Cite web</ref> Stairs lead up to a section of high floor in the central area of the tunnel, from where three narrow tube-like escalator shafts lead sideways (south) to the higher concourse.<ref name=":02" /> One end of the higher concourse connects to Waterloo East station, and the other end to the station's modest low-rise entrance building which is intended as a base for a future commercial development.<ref name=":02" />
In 2000, the station was awarded a Royal Institute of British Architects Bronze medal, as well as being named Royal Fine Arts Commission/British Sky Broadcasting Building of the Year.<ref name=":4" /> The entire station, including the Waterloo East interchange, was Grade II listed on 10 November 2025.<ref name="Listing">Template:Cite web</ref>
Location
It is somewhat west of historic Southwark, which is served by Borough and London Bridge stations. Its entrance is across the road from the disused Blackfriars Road railway station. Nearby attractions are Shakespeare's Globe, Young Vic and Old Vic theatres and the Tate Modern.
Although it is close to Waterloo, not near the Bankside attractions it was intended to serve, and its only National Rail interchange is to Template:Stnlnk main line station; the passenger usage matches those of other minor central stations. It does however get over twice the traffic of nearby Borough station, and around three times that of Lambeth North.<ref name=":2" />
Day and nighttime London Buses routes serve that station.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Template:Clear
References
- Pages with broken file links
- Jubilee line stations
- London Underground Night Tube stations
- Tube stations in the London Borough of Southwark
- Transport architecture in London
- Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1999
- Richard MacCormac buildings
- Grade II listed buildings in the London Borough of Southwark