The King's Cross Station redevelopment project renovated and expanded the historic station to address overcrowding and improve the passenger experience. The project included restoring heritage buildings, adding a new concourse and public square, and upgrading platforms and passenger flow. Human factors engineering played a key role to help design and assure areas affecting passengers and operations prioritized usability, accessibility, wayfinding and crowd management. While the redeveloped station significantly improved conditions and established world-class facilities, the project also faced constraints from delivering changes within a functioning station and heritage buildings without being able to introduce radical innovations.

1. King’s Cross Station – a more human design
David Watts, Managing Director, CCD Design

2. Introduction
• History of King’s Cross Station
• The redevelopment of King’s Cross
• Role of human factors in the scheme
• The user in the design

3. History of King’s Cross Station
• Opened in 1852
• Southern terminus for East Coast Main Line
• Design by Lewis Cubitt
• Roof modelled on riding school at Tsar’s Gardens in Moscow

4. The need to redevelop the station
• Congested & overcrowded
• Increasing passenger numbers
• Temporary concourse not fit
• Urban platforms not right
• Lack of train capacity
• Lack of retail - £££
• Integration with revised tube station
• New St Pancras next door
• 2012 Olympics won

5. Redevelopment Project Timeline
• 2005 - project started to redevelop the station
• 2009 – restoration of eastern buildings complete
• 2010 – new Platform 0 opened
• 2011 – restoration of the main roof
• 2012 – new concourse opened – 19 March
• 2013 – new public square opens on site of old concourse

6. Station overview

7. Station Layout

8. New Concourse

9. New Concourse

10. New Concourse
Upper level for retail & seating

11. Public Square

12. Project Description

13. Key Points
• Redevelopment in a heritage environment
• Constraints in timescales & delivery – ready for the Olympics
• It’s an operational station
• Iconic architecture
• Improvement in the ambience
– High spaces
– Segregation of retail & seating
– Lighter environment
– Retain connection with the history of the building
• Vast improvement…
• …but only a step forward

14. CCD’s role
• Assuring that the human user had been considered in the
design
• Framework for assurance in Ergonomics Integration Plan
• Identified all areas affecting passengers & operations
• Identified ergonomics themes for each area
• Assurance method
– Delivery Team Champion
– Evidence provided by delivery team
– Compliance Matrix
– Walkarounds
– Certification

15. Areas identified with human interface
• Platforms • Control room
• Concourses • Dockmaster office
• Retail • Station CCTV
• Ticket gates • Public address
• Ticket vending machines • BMS
• Waiting areas • Radio/phone comms systems
• Information points • Staff accommodation
• Ticket office • Train crew accommodation
• Footbridge, lifts, escalators • Lifts
• Call points
• Public address
• Train information displays
• Train departing information

16. Ergonomics themes within each area
• User management
• Passenger flow
• Disability Discrimination
• Wayfinding
• Environment – lighting, acoustics, thermal
• Operational philosophy
• Job design, workload, training
• Health & safety
• Emergency processes
• Maintenance

17. Passenger Flow & Accumulation Areas

18. Wayfinding & Passenger Flow
• Scenario based evaluation
– Family eating in Burger King and realise they are late for their train on
Platform 1
– Passenger arrives at entrance and wants to meet colleague in the 1st Class
Lounge
• Lessons learnt
– Walkthroughs key to understanding inter-relationship between signs

19. Wayfinding & Platforms 9-11
• Visual connection on concourse

20. Crowd management
• Operational need vs desired behaviour
• Commuter behaviour – “the race for a seat”
• KX: stay on the concourse – limited info past barrier
• Keeping passengers off the footbridge

21. Footbridge – Signage & Passenger Behaviour
• On bridge signs
• Platform signs
• No large signs

22. Platform Access
• Relationship with layout of East Coast Trains
– 1st Class Lounge and 1st Class carriages 1st Class Carriages
1st Class Lounge

23. Concourse – separation of main retail

24. Ambiguous public seating on mezzanine

25. Ticket Gates
• Important for revenue protection
• Anything positive for passenger experience?
• Operation key to making it work
– Staffing
– Training
– Philosophy of operation

26. Ticket Office
• Example of working with the architecture of the old building
• Presents an acoustically challenging environment

27. Control Room
• Heritage features
• Working environment
• Design of HCI

28. Summary
• Significant improvement in ambiance for passengers
• Improvements in operational environment
• World class station now
• Constrained with delivery and heritage environment
• Good design plus assurance on details has delivered
• Advance for passenger experience…
• …but no significant step change or innovation

29. CCD Design & Ergonomics Ltd
95 Southwark Street | London | SE1 0HX
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7593 2900
www.ccd.org.uk