GCR NRM (almost) £10 million lottery win

I don't mind the Hawkins Brown design, but as others have said none of them look great, a few years back I saw the plans on an idea for the museum put to the GCR (I can't remember by who) which was based upon Nottingham Victoria (but on a much smaller scale). I did have the link to the plans but having just looked at the link to them on dropbox it no longer works which it a bit of a pain.

 

I can't imagine a scaled down Nottingham Victoria, especially on the budget available, not looking fake and naff.

 

Reminds me of the modern version of a roundhouse that was constructed in Scranton, PA, for the "Steamtown" collection. Even the loco hiding in the background inside the shed looks a bit American in outline!

 

Carmody Groarke/Forbes Massie - That looks like a 70s railway station in somewhere like Swindon, or Milton Keynes
Farrells - Quite like the iron work, suggests something of railway engineering, although it's just one corner of the building!
Hawkins Brown - I quite like this one too, feels visceral, a live with engineering, steam and power. Again how the rest looks will be important
Grimshaw - Birmingham New Street/Great Central, no? Looks like a Tesco or a big bus station. Not terrible though and I like the full glass frontage facing the platforms
BDP - What is it?!
Wilkinson Eyre - Now I have to be honest, my initial thought was 'Oh My Days!' but it is definitely growing on me. Very Scandinavian

Overall I'm quite excited! Feels like the hype over WHR and East Grinstead all rolled into one!

 

Hawkins Brown for me. Has the right look and feel about it, but in a semi modern way.

 

Had a good look at the 6 design proposals on display in the cafe at Leicester North during the Gala, a lot more information and detail on the plans there than the impressions shown in the BBC article. The BDP proposal actually made sense, that graphic doesn't do it any favours. My personal favourite was Farrells, however the most popular seemed to be Hawkins Brown.

I hope that whatever they decide to do they retain and incorporate the existing station building, though modern itself it's now part of the history of the site. Would seem like a waste to demolish it, looks much better now with the canopy. Could be wrong but I believe the buffer stops are from Marylebone as well.

The Carmody Groarke/Forbes Massie one is the worst, far too much concrete. Also for some unknown reason, instead of just copying stock images of existing locomotives, their graphic designer decided to cross breed Scotsman(I think?) with FR no. 20...

 

You are correct - recovered from there during the 80s refurbishment.

 

I hope whichever version is finally chosen, you will still be able to dismount from an incoming train and walk round to photograph the locomotive as it uncouples and runs round. I only had time for a quick glance at the proposals, but some of them seemed to make that difficult / impossible.

 

Winning design announced... http://www.gcrailway.co.uk/2016/10/museum-winning-design-revealed/

Personally I thought the Hawkins and BDP designs reflected more that it was a railway museum... it may grow on me...

 

Wow - the Wilkinson Eyre design, really? I quite like it and it's Nordic feel, but it's not the one I anticipated winning

 

The GCR FB page are getting dogs abuse on the chosen design !

 

Oh dear, so they are! I'm confused, the photo shown in the press release looks hideous, but the one for voting looked more like a glass roundhouse, which didn't look so bad. I don't see how it all fits together!

 

I am not surprised, it is quite hard on the eyes.
The photo makes it appear like giant ducting but probably at ground level there is a different perspective.

 

So who is going to show the design to Prince Charles then.

 

Modern day Brutalism?

Can't say I'm exactly inspired by it, tbh...

 

I've heard it described as "A bunch of old containers bolted together". Wouldn't argue with that personally.

 

As a gateway to the GCR I think it's really growing on me. Entering through this amazing modern museum of railway engineering, boarding a steam train and travelling back in time. Going the other way I think ultimately it will ruin the experience

 

There's a short video of the winning design on this page...

http://www.loughboroughecho.net/news/local-news/winning-design-18m-great-central-12083716


Although it looks a bit odd on the side away from the railway, the last image in the video gives an impression of the 'railway' side - (ie next to the track and locos) and it looks OK - not unlike an old steam shed.

I just hope it all eventually happens as they really need something at the southern end of the line.

 

It's like something off Grand Designs (plus trains)

 

I'd like to know what the decision has actually been based on. All the pictures I've seen look like little more than the architects initial doodles. No drawings with any substance at all IMHO!

Andy