| Summary : Sudbury Town was chosen as the site for a new station of experimental design to replace the primitive corrugated-iron hut built for the opening of the Piccadilly line in 1903. Designed by Charles Holden, construction was started on 13th December 1930 and the station was opened on 19th July 1931. The new station was designed around the principles and features that holden and Frank Pick saw as being important in the modern station, and marked a turning point in architectural style. A link with the foregoing architecture was that no supporting frame was used for the building; the mass brick walls were load bearing and the concrete cap to the booking hall was cast in-situ. This was found to be unsatisfactory because the presenece of the walls made it difficult to construct full formwork for the concreting, and leakages of cement slurry stained the walls. The low-level buildings were of reinforced concrete finished in white cement. The main facilities were located on the north side of the tracks, overlooking a forecourt and bus terminus. The dominating feature of the structure was the brick ticket hall itself. The double-height hall gave a sense of spaciousness and lightness to the interior, being well lit through four long vertical windows in the front wall. On the cornice of the ticket hall roof were mounted 'Claudegen' neon signs - the first and only neon signs to be used on a London Underground station. To the side of the ticket hall an extension enclosed stairs leading to a concrete footbridge. On the westbound platform was an auxuillary booking office and partially screened waiting area. The form of the building was derived from a plan of the traffic flow, and most areas within the station were accessible from the ticket hall. A passimeter and ticket machines were placed in the path of the passenger who could wait in shelter after purchasing a ticket without having to step out onto the platform. A new booking office was built in 1986-7. |