[Photo: Topical Press. HARDWICK’S GREAT HALL AT EUSTON, REDECORATED FROM THE DESIGNS OF SIR EDWIN LUTYENS, R.A.
Redecoration of Euston Waiting Hall
The great hall or waiting-room at Euston Station has been redecorated by Sir Edwin Lutyens. The directors of the London, Midland & Scottish Railway Company are to be congratulated upon their decision to deal reverently with Hardwick’s masterpiece (as this interior must be called) and to employ an architect of great repute to renovate it. There can be no question that it badly needed renovating, and the great hall which, in its present guise, is likely to attract far more favourable attention from casual visitors than it did when in its former somewhat dingy condition.
One may say ‘ ‘ casual ’ ’ visitors because, to students of architecture, Hardwick’s design has long been recognised as one of the masterpieces of the early 19th century, and takes its place among the limited number of English Classic buildings of the first rank. The noble scale of this chamber, 128 feet by 62 feet and 64 feet high, lit by its fine range of attic windows, makes an immediate appeal, while in its general composition the rarest skill is displayed, for we have here a happy combination of richness and simplicity. These contrasting elements magnify each other’s worth, for the wide expanse of plain wallage on either side of the hall form an admirable foil to the elaboratelycoffered ceiling, supported by ornate consoles, and the bracketed gallery, with its fine repetitive pattern of cast-iron balusters. Moreover, by confining the columnar treatment to the ends of the hall where the main entrance and grand staircase to the company’s offices are situated, Hardwick made the very most of the Order and prevented it from degenerating into a mechanical system of wall decoration.
It may be asked whether Sir Edwin Lutyens has by his innovations enhanced the architectural effect of the hall. He has wisely confined himself to the application of paint and to the arrangement of framed posters between the arched entrances to the restaurants on ground-floor level. The columns have been painted in imitation of red Egyptian porphyry, as also have the walls up to the gallery. It is perhaps questionable whether this application of colour is altogether happy, for it isolates the lower part of the walls from the rest of the composition except the columns, which it quite arbitrarily detaches from the entablature belonging to them. The gilt of the capitals and bases is better placed, inasmuch as it is partly kept in countenance by the gilt frames of the posters and the hoods over the restaurant doors. The main portion of the wallage between gallery and entablature is cream, while this latter, with the attic storey and ceiling above, is left white. There is no space here to discuss the fascinating subject of alternative decorative treatments which might have been applied. Suffice it to say that the waiting-room at Euston is still a noble hall, of which the London, Midland & Scottish Railway Company have reason to be proud.
An important item in the new scheme has been the installation of electric light. The hall is now “ flood lit ” at night by high-power lamps under each window.
The official opening took place, last week, of the Yorkshire Electric Power Company’s new superstation at Ferrybridge. This is the third station in the company’s system.
Redecoration of Euston Waiting Hall
The great hall or waiting-room at Euston Station has been redecorated by Sir Edwin Lutyens. The directors of the London, Midland & Scottish Railway Company are to be congratulated upon their decision to deal reverently with Hardwick’s masterpiece (as this interior must be called) and to employ an architect of great repute to renovate it. There can be no question that it badly needed renovating, and the great hall which, in its present guise, is likely to attract far more favourable attention from casual visitors than it did when in its former somewhat dingy condition.
One may say ‘ ‘ casual ’ ’ visitors because, to students of architecture, Hardwick’s design has long been recognised as one of the masterpieces of the early 19th century, and takes its place among the limited number of English Classic buildings of the first rank. The noble scale of this chamber, 128 feet by 62 feet and 64 feet high, lit by its fine range of attic windows, makes an immediate appeal, while in its general composition the rarest skill is displayed, for we have here a happy combination of richness and simplicity. These contrasting elements magnify each other’s worth, for the wide expanse of plain wallage on either side of the hall form an admirable foil to the elaboratelycoffered ceiling, supported by ornate consoles, and the bracketed gallery, with its fine repetitive pattern of cast-iron balusters. Moreover, by confining the columnar treatment to the ends of the hall where the main entrance and grand staircase to the company’s offices are situated, Hardwick made the very most of the Order and prevented it from degenerating into a mechanical system of wall decoration.
It may be asked whether Sir Edwin Lutyens has by his innovations enhanced the architectural effect of the hall. He has wisely confined himself to the application of paint and to the arrangement of framed posters between the arched entrances to the restaurants on ground-floor level. The columns have been painted in imitation of red Egyptian porphyry, as also have the walls up to the gallery. It is perhaps questionable whether this application of colour is altogether happy, for it isolates the lower part of the walls from the rest of the composition except the columns, which it quite arbitrarily detaches from the entablature belonging to them. The gilt of the capitals and bases is better placed, inasmuch as it is partly kept in countenance by the gilt frames of the posters and the hoods over the restaurant doors. The main portion of the wallage between gallery and entablature is cream, while this latter, with the attic storey and ceiling above, is left white. There is no space here to discuss the fascinating subject of alternative decorative treatments which might have been applied. Suffice it to say that the waiting-room at Euston is still a noble hall, of which the London, Midland & Scottish Railway Company have reason to be proud.
An important item in the new scheme has been the installation of electric light. The hall is now “ flood lit ” at night by high-power lamps under each window.
The official opening took place, last week, of the Yorkshire Electric Power Company’s new superstation at Ferrybridge. This is the third station in the company’s system.