LONDON | Crystal Palace to be Rebuilt

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Plans to rebuild London's Crystal Palace revealed

Originally Posted by The Guardian

It once showcased the latest in Victorian technology and hosted the world's first pedigree cat show beneath its soaring vaults of iron and glass. Now, the Crystal Palace might be rebuilt in south London as a complex of exhibition spaces, shops and cafes, if a Chinese developer gets his way.

Ni Zhaoxing, billionaire owner of Shanghai-based real estate giant ZhongRong Holdings, has expressed his desire to create an exact replica of the 900,000 sq ft glass halls in Crystal Palace park. The majestic structure was originally designed by Joseph Paxton and first erected in Hyde Park for the Great Exhibition of 1851, assembled by 5,000 navvies at a cost of £150,000 (equivalent to £13m today). After the exhibition, it was relocated to Sydenham and redesigned in a much grander beaux arts style, complete with a barrel-vaulted roof and two new transepts – costing £1.3m (around £97m today) – before being destroyed by fire in 1936.


http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesi...nese-developer

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[chris08876]

Looks like it would make a good train station design. Nevertheless looks beautiful.


http://architessica.files.wordpress....talpalace1.jpg, 2011

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Originally Posted by chris08876

Looks like it would make a good train station design. Nevertheless looks beautiful.

It is a unique building and it would be wonderful to see a replica on the same site being used as a conference centre.

[Josh73]

I've always admired the original, excited to see how this turns out!

[ThatOneGuy]

Would be cool, but isn't the site too small now? I doubt they will be able to build a full replica...

[nito]

Originally Posted by ThatOneGuy

Would be cool, but isn't the site too small now? I doubt they will be able to build a full replica...

The footprint of the old building, supporting walls, and even some of the truncated support pillars are undisturbed (http://binged.it/16lxHzp). Some of the eastern most gardens have however been encroached upon by the National Sports Centre.


Image taken by Lee-Anne Inglis: http://www.flickr.com/photos/beatrix...n/photostream/

Crystal Palace (Low Level) station remains and is now the terminus for a branch of the East London Line, but the old High Level station closed in 1954 and has now been partially built upon, with only the retaining walls remaining (http://www.flickr.com/photos/stevieb...n/photostream/)


Source: Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crystal...ailway_station

The old connecting subway still remains however.


Image taken by dobraszcyk: http://www.flickr.com/photos/1048375...n/photostream/

The only question I have is what will be the use of the building if it is reconstructed.

[muppet]

museum of Victoriana

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Originally Posted by nito

The footprint of the old building, supporting walls, and even some of the truncated support pillars are undisturbed (http://binged.it/16lxHzp). Some of the eastern most gardens have however been encroached upon by the National Sports Centre.

The only question I have is what will be the use of the building if it is reconstructed.

The National Sports Centre may well be redeveloped, as the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in Stratford is now the main venue for athletics and swimming. Whilst Crystal Palace football club have now stated that they wish to refurbish and expand their current ground at Selhurst Park rather than build a new ground on the site of the current National Sports Centre.

In terms of future use for the Crystal Palace, the Chinese developer has suggested some form of conference, retail and leisure complex.

[Pete70]

Originally Posted by ThatOneGuy

Would be cool, but isn't the site too small now? I doubt they will be able to build a full replica...

I keep my fingers crossed that it will be a full replica. Does anyone know if that is the case?

[Hed Kandi]

This isn't going to happen.

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Couple more links

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-23475994

http://www.standard.co.uk/news/londo...s-8733208.html

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...oyed-fire.html

[Pete70]

Well, according to the articles nothing seems to be final yet. It may not be the most realistic project I've heard of, but it's definitely not impossible either. I'll keep my fingers crossed and see what happens. An interesting case to follow no matter what.

[nito]

Slightly related; but there was an excellent programme on BBC 4 yesterday (http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode...Glass_Houses):
Dreaming the Impossible: Unbuilt Britain, Episode 1: Glass Houses.

• Video Link

It talked about various unbuilt projects in London (including a hovering airport above King’s Cross), but it also talked about Joseph Paxton who was the architect behind the Crystal Palace and his fascination with glass buildings.

Most interesting of all however was Paxton’s unbuilt project: the Great Victorian Way; a 10mile long building around Central London which would be by far the largest building ever constructed on the planet.


Image sourced from the Victorian & Albert Museum: http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1...ton-joseph-sir

[JACKinBeantown]

Infomart in Dallas is an obvious homage.


Jeremy Woodhouse

[nito]

The Chinese developer behind this project has released further details on the £0.5bn project to rebuild the Crystal Palace and improvements to the surrounding parklands. Will be interesting to see how this develops beyond the drawing board:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-24375547
http://www.thelondoncrystalpalace.co...ce_-lowres.pdf


Image sourced from: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...-unveiled.html


Image sourced from: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...-unveiled.html


Image sourced from: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...-unveiled.html


Image sourced from: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...-unveiled.html

[ardecila]

This still makes no sense. What's the business case? How will this be funded, especially if the park and exhibitions are free?

[Camstonisland]

IMPOSSIBLE!
everyone knows you cant ride a trolley in grass.

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Architects have been invited to declare their interest in designing the £500million reconstruction of The Crystal Palace.

Wednesday 11th December 2013



http://www.bromleytimes.co.uk/news/a...ject_1_3101947

Unveiled in October, Chinese billionaire Ni Zhaoxing plans to restore the former London landmark back to its past glory and on the original site, in Crystal Palace Park.

Completion of the project is scheduled for 2018 and architects now have until January 20 to express their interest in spearheading the project, working closely to Joseph Paxton’s original design.

Up to three architect teams will be shortlisted in early spring to prepare detailed submissions, including initial concept designs.

The selected team, set to be appointed in the summer, will then work closely with lead consultant Arup to restore the 180 acre site.

More than 2,000 permanent and temporary jobs are set to be created through the project, which mayor of London Boris Johnson describes as a “significant” number.

He added: “Creating a Crystal Palace for the 21st century is a truly unique opportunity. I am confident this search will attract some of the world’s finest creative minds, many of whom we know are home grown talents.

“I look forward with great interest as to how the design selection progresses.”

The selection panel will include Mr Ni’s company, the ZhongRong Group, as well as the president of The Royal Institute of British Architects, Stephen Hodder, and will be chaired by Boris Johnson - as well as the leader of Bromley Council, Stephen Carr.

Cllr Carr said: “Local people rightly want to see the detail and the appointment of architects and design teams will enable some of this detail to come forwards.

“Clearly the appointment will be a ZhongRong decision but I am encouraged by the desire to recruit a team of the highest calibre on a global stage and in quite a demanding short time scale.

“The news underlines ZhongRong’s serious intentions and will ultimately bring about greater clarity which is to be welcomed.”

Public engagement continues on the project, with a drop-in session at the Crystal Palace cafe yesterday allowing residents to voice comments and concerns.

To find out more, visit - http://www.thelondoncrystalpalace.com/