Hi, Colin, how are you? Long time, no speak. I think the first time we spoke in Five Minutes With… – you're the first person to appear twice – was last May. So, a long time. How are you doing?

 

Very well. Nice to speak to you again, David. It feels like only yesterday (laughs) A lot can change, though...

 

A year is a long time in transportation projects! 

I wondered if we could talk, firstly, about your being selected for the Penn Station project in New York. Could you just give us a grounding on the key principles there, and the key points about your design as it is so far?

 

Well, it is an incredibly exciting opportunity to contribute to the busiest transport interchange in the Western Hemisphere. It's a phenomenally complicated and complex puzzle to solve. It serves about 600,000 passengers a day, but it's a really poor experience, and the customer experience is really not fit for the 21st century. We bring experience on projects like King’s Cross to help to deliver what will be really important for New Yorkers. It will change the experience of commuting for the better. We're going to bring daylight into a space that currently has none. We're going to get the diagram working properly, so that you can make intuitive decisions and take the stress out of the whole experience; make the experience better. It's about consistency; it's about better customer experience and service, and fundamentally it's about good design, which underpins everything we try to do.

 

Presumably, one of the reasons you triumphed in this was your back catalogue in places like King’s Cross? What principles do you think are transferable from that project over to this one?

 

I mean, clearly, King’s Cross is seen as an exemplar. It celebrates its 10th anniversary of opening this year...

 

Really? Crikey! (laughs)

 

…It was opened for the Olympics, and it is testament to its success that it's virtually untouched in those 10 years; everything down to the family of signage and product design is still in place, and still fit for purpose. I mean, the technology moves on, we swap dynamic screens in and out, but it's still fit for purpose. And it has been an incredible success story. At the time of that project, as I understand it, Network Rail didn't see their estate as being as King’s Cross has been – a phenomenal success for alternative revenue, for example. So, we bring the experience of how you deliver that sort of project around a live rail – that's critical. You can't knock any of these services out; there can't be any unplanned disruptions. And to deliver that, on time, and on budget, would be phenomenal in the setting of Midtown in New York, which is really challenging, just in terms of the space. I mean, it's a complex project. It's a joint effort, it's a big team, and we're just really excited to contribute.

 

Do you get to notice commuting patterns as they change across the world and in different countries? I'm thinking principally about the post-COVID use of public transport. Do you get to note that? And if you do, what trends are you noticing?

 

Well, from an architectural point of view, what strikes me is that it's about the quality of experience of the travel. And it is even more important now than it's ever been. It's even more important now that there is a consistency of the experience. You take the stress of travel out as much as possible, you improve the customer experience, first and foremost. And that's where architecture can contribute in connecting spaces, in helping people to make decisions, regardless of what their user group is, on making the end journey experience better, because we want people to select public transport over private. That requires better connections into the city and requires all sorts of proper, good, rigorous thoughts. When it's done well, it's really successful – you look at King’s Cross, you look at the future of Belfast with Grand Central, and Sydney Central and the other projects we've been very privileged to work on.

 

The other thing which is noticeable is its effect on the public realm of such transport schemes. I'm thinking principally here of Bond Street and the difference that's already making to Mayfair. Is that something that's been a discernible difference that you've noticed on that project?

 

Bond Street on the Elizabeth line, exactly as you say – it's a very prestigious, established part of London. But already we notice at one of the entrances that we were commissioned to design at Hanover Square, there's a shift happening to creative industries; to the arts and culture. It just underpins that rail and infrastructure is at the heart of the culture of cities. It enables renewal and rebirth. The two stations themselves we very consciously wanted to create permeability at the point of entry so that they really are part of the street. As soon as you get up to the gate line you can see straight out into the city; you can make your onward decisions. It's not just one portal, it's a permeable interface which is really part of the streetscape. They also bring in a huge amount of daylight; that was a very important part of those two stations' design.

 

So: what's next for you as a practice in this sphere? I mean, presumably, it's all systems go on Penn Station, principally, is it?

 

Well, it is, but equally, we continue to look to contribute, and help where we can in that mission to deliver a greater consistency, and a better quality of design. There's a lot of work that needs to be done. But it's challenging in the current economic climate. However, for that challenge, we need a huge team effort. The profession needs as many players as possible to help, because there is an awful lot of work to do.

 

Yeah, well, good luck with it all. I can't wait to go back to New York. It's a long time since I've been, and hopefully to see this in fruition. When might that be?

 

It's programmed for completion in 2027. 

 

Okay, I might have just about saved up the money for the flight by then, given the cost-of-living crisis...

 

Let's go out then for a coffee! 

 

That'd be great. Thanks for your time, Colin. That’s really great. 

 

Thank you, David