Civils and stations

Sonic windows help restoration of historic Huntingdon Station

Sympathetic restoration work was recently completed on Huntingdon station, a designated Grade II listed building. The station, built in 1849, is believed to have been designed by Lewis Cubitt, whose family included Thomas Cubitt the master builder who remains a household name even today and another brother who served as Lord Mayor of London. Lewis was a formidable architect responsible for many bridges, mostly in the then colonies but also including the cast iron bridge at Peterborough that still carries the East Coast Main Line over the River Nene. He is however chiefly remembered for his chef d’oeuvre, London’s King’s Cross station.

The remedial work at Huntingdon, managed by Lambert Smith Hamton, was necessary to rectify unauthorised repairs that, though an urgent necessity following a fire at the station in 2005, were not in keeping with the late Georgian splendour of Cubitt’s design. Clear wired glazing was reinstalled in the station canopy, stained glass panels to the original design replaced plain glass in the buffet and Network Rail also took the opportunity to make some other restoration. This included an updating of the booking hall and for this work specialists Sonic Windows of Bexhill-on-Sea supplied a product which was both in keeping with the building’s architectural status and provided modern communication windows including one designed for disabled access. Sonic has installed window systems for literally hundreds of railway stations, many of them important listed buildings.

The design agreed was for two widows at standard height, flanking one with a substantially lower counter. The coloured tiles decorating that part of the booking hall were recessed under the lower counter so that wheelchair users could sit in comfort at the window while talking to staff.

Bullet proof glass was used throughout, making for easy eye contact with passengers while maintaining total safety for staff and security during money transfer. Communication is via an extremely efficient, non-distorting intercom system and induction loops are fitted to the window frames for the benefit of hearing aid users. The triple window is framed in nicely profiled timber to a design that complements the original ‘half-wheel’ decoration panel above.

Huntingdon station is now fully restored to its former glory, much to the delight and relief of the regular train travellers who had made their opinions of the temporary repairs very clear! That the restoration work also allowed improvements such as the new Sonic windows is an added bonus.

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