In article , TheOneKEA
wrote:
John Haines wrote in message
...

I don't know when they started to plan Oyster, but the gateline
layout at Stratford dates from about 1996 (from memory). Originally
there was only going to be the one gateline in the new Concourse -
that guarding the Jubilee Line. The old station entrance (to the
east of the concourse) had no gateline or even proper ticket
barriers.

Does this mean that before Jubilee Line services terminated at
Stratford it was possible to reach the Central Line, the DLR and the
mainline platforms without actually possessing a valid ticket?
Fascinating.

Yes.

Originally there was only funding (from LUL) for the western half -
approximately the western 2/3rds of the current Concourse. The Jubilee
line gateline was part of this scheme but it would not have provided a
new entrance. The old entrance and linking tunnel from the shopping
centre, which looked a bit like entering a public toilet (mostly
subterranean and white tiled) would have stayed.

Funding for the eastern half, mainly from Newham, was in place just in
time to start construction with a single unified design.

Part of the design brief was to produce a structure which could be
extended. This concept, although rendered unnecessary, was too far
embedded to change. The whole roof structure, including the front
truss, is basically a kit of parts connected together with bolts. Even
the front concrete piers are bolted down (and then the pocket filled
with concrete).

The Architects we worked with, then called Chris Wilkinson Architects,
now Wilkinson Eyre Architects, went on to win the Sterling prize for
architecture two years running - Magna and the Gateshead millennium
bridge. (- and if that's not the way to spell the m word, blame my
spell checker).

John Haines