St.Pancras International Station

The Project

• St Pancras International Station has undergone an £800 million face lift – magnificent feat which has been 10 years in the making.
• This new terminus, dubbed ‘Europe’s destination station’ is five stations in one, servicing Eurostar, High Speed domestic services to Kent (from 2009), East Midland Trains, First Capital Connect and six underground lines.
• The first new railway for 100 years, St Pancras is Britain’s largest single construction project in history which was delivered on time and within budget.
• This project was initiated by London & Continental Railways, a consortium of eight shareholders including Ove Arup and Partners.
• The station has been kitted out with state-of-the-art technology and includes sixty prestigious retail units and boasts Europe’s longest champagne bar.
• DOWSIL™ 993 Silicone Structural Glazing Sealant was specified to bond the fully framed glass panels to the external curtain walling structure and to bond specially designed glass created to serve as internal panelling.

Ten years in the making, the new international station at St Pancras is truly awe-inspiring – capturing the essence of British architectural glamour of today and of years gone by. The vast, glazed central section of the station’s roof, transforms the original giant train shed, allowing a breath-taking swathe of light to pour in to the station unabated. In fact, the use of glass throughout this regeneration project both internally and on the external façade has been vital not just in restoring the station to its former glory, but truly bringing it into the 21st century.

External Glazing

Elements of the stunning externally glazed façade have been constructed using toughened and laminated glass which was required to be heat soak tested to DIN 18516 Part 4. Heat soaking of toughened glass is designed to assist in the removal of all glass panes that contain critical nickel sulphide inclusions, thus helping to eliminate spontaneous breakage. The glass panels were manufactured to a bespoke design using specially screen printed boarders in white ceramic ink, which incorporated a dot ‘fade out’ to meet the architects design requirements.

The large, heavy panels of glass, typically 2800 mm x 1600 mm in size and weighing around 170 kg were fully framed and bonded with DOWSIL™ 993 Silicone Structural Glazing Sealant.

This presented an interesting logistical challenge to specialist glass laminator and structural fabricator, Romag Security Laminators Ltd, with each framed unit weighing approximately 0.25 tonnes. These exceptionally heavy steel framed units were transported to site and were installed in compliance with a very strict construction programme for crane assisted installation.

Internal Glass Panelling

The design of the internal glass panelling utilised in corridors and stairways leading to platforms providing train services to the East Midlands have a profound aesthetic importance in maintaining the historic Victorian character within the station interior. Appropriate glass selection and the method of attachment to the stainless steel framing structure were important criteria in creating and maintaining this ambience within the interior refurbishment.

In order to create an ambience inspired by the Victorian era, white enamelled laminated glass panelling was chosen which incorporates a green tinge within the glass, thus emulating a gaslight effect. Over 100 panels, typically measuring 2.5m wide x 0.5m were structurally bonded on all four sides by structural bonding specialists Structural Glazing Ltd, without additional mechanical fixation to the frame using DOWSIL™ 993.