Paddington Over Station Development is a landmark 19-storey commercial office building being delivered for the Platinum Portfolio joint venture between Places for London (PfL) and Helical.

Occupying a highly constrained site above the Hammersmith & City line station, Bakerloo line tunnels and the station’s taxi entrance road, the scheme is strategically positioned between Paddington’s mainline station, Bishop’s Bridge and the Grand Union Canal linking the existing Paddington Basin and Paddington Central developments along the edge of the Grand Union Canal.

The 235,000 sq ft scheme will deliver 15 floors of highly flexible Grade A office space, incorporating external terraces on each floor, is designed to accommodate a wide range of occupier requirements and future workplace trends.

The triangular geometry of the building is driven by the alignment of the railway tracks and canal. Its massing is anchored by vertical stair cores on the east and west sides, articulated as solid hinge-like elements that contrast with the predominantly glazed office façades.

An expressive transfer structure, designed in response to the site’s engineering complexities, establishes a strong datum around the lower levels, providing clear visual separation between the transport interchange and simpler office façade and massing treatment above.

A defining element of the design is the new integrated station entrance positioned on the canal-facing north façade. This entrance will serve both London Underground and Paddington’s mainline station, creating an enhanced gateway for passengers. A new public stair and lift will provide improved publicly accessible routes from Bishop’s Bridge to the canal tow-path. These two elements will flank a grand double-height office entrance lobby and retail facility facing out onto enhanced public realm along the canal edge. Together, these elements will provide a generous active frontage, improving the canal-side setting and contributing to the wider transformation of Paddington’s public realm.

Grimshaw, who originally secured planning consent for the site in 2015 on behalf of Crossrail, has since developed the design to align with current market expectations and client ambitions. Mace has been confirmed as preferred delivery partner, with enabling and interface works already underway.

Project Team:

Architect, Lead Designer and Principal Designer: Grimshaw
Structure and Civils: Mott MacDonald
MEP and Sustainability: Hoare Lea
Project Manager: M3
Planning: DP9
Cost: Core Five
Fire: Affinity

Facades: FMDC
Vertical Transport and Access & Maintenance: D2E
Feature Lighting: Studio Fractal
Acoustics: Sandy Brown
Transport: Curtins
BIM information manager: WSP