Superior model making brings new Farringdon Station to life
25 April 2013
Ogle Models and Prototypes were appointed to produce a high quality, highly detailed model of the concourse at the new Farringdon Station in London.
Crossrail is a major new cross-London rail link project that has been developed to serve London and the southeast of England. Central to this project and the Thameslink project is the recently completed development of the Farringdon Station complex. Aedas Architects is working as a part of a multidisciplinary team of engineers on the design of the station, which is being procured on a Design-Build basis.
In addition to the normal technical drawings that were produced the team believed that a detailed scale model was desirable to fully amplify design intent and be particularly helpful for the Design Build contractor that was brought on board. For the production of the high quality, highly detailed model of the concourse at Farringdon the team turned to Ogle Models and Prototypes. Project Manager for this assignment was Dave Orman, who manages the model shop at Ogle.
As you can see from the images of the final model all of the key intricate design features of the concourse had to be precisely reproduced in the 1/50 scale model. These features comprise a double storey building with a capacious northern entrance and a glazed eastern wall; saw-tooth-type skylights with north-facing glazing and vents oriented southwards; a ticket office, ticketing machines and ticketing gates; two lifts; and three escalators.
After an initial brain storming session with his team to identify the best production methods for the entire model, Dave decided that this project needed a hands-on approach adopting both advanced techniques involving laser cutting and CNC machining with traditional methods that involve hand skills.
The complexities of the model making process for projects such as this are something that Ogle is well-placed to deal with, having a range of techniques available in house together with exceptional skill levels amongst the model makers employed.
The starting point was to construct a sturdy outer structure using white and clear acrylic materials. Onto this all of the different elements of the model could then be added. Again the materials of choice were Perspex and clear acrylic to achieve the desired effect.
As each part was constructed using the most appropriate process, it was added to the outer structure and the model took shape. Once completed it was all finished in Ogle’s dedicated finishing department to precisely match the colour specification as dictated by the brief. The entire project took 150 man hours and has exceeded the expectations of the client.
Soji Abass, Architect at Aedas Architects summed up this project: 'When we approached Ogle Models we only had some drawings and an artist's impression to convey the 'look and feel' of the proposed interchange concourse. However, Ogle brought to bear an impressive range of techniques and materials to bring the scheme to life. In addition the people at Ogle are a joy to work with.'
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