Nottingham Station Architecture

[DynamicSpirit]

I'm curious about the design of Notttingham station: From the front, you enter what at first sight looks to be the main station building/concourse - except it turns out it isn't: It contains retail outlets, and you go through a wall into a separate 2nd area to an inner concourse, which is where the ticket office is. You then pass through the barriers into a 3rd concourse - and as built, it does seem to be an actual 3rd concourse: The barriers are not in the middle of one large concourse (the way they would be in many large stations), but are located at openings in another wall that separates these concourses.

The walls separating the concourses don't look to me like recent additions: They all look as if they were built long ago, with a Victorian kind of architecture, so I would assume they are all part of the original structure of the station. If that's correct, that seems to imply the station was originally built with three nested concourses, so you had to go through all three in turn to get to the platforms. That seems quite an unusual design. Does anyone know if the station was actually built like that, and if so what the reasons might have been?

 

[MidlandMainlie]

I'm curious about the design of Notttingham station: From the front, you enter what at first sight looks to be the main station building/concourse - except it turns out it isn't: It contains retail outlets, and you go through a wall into a separate 2nd area to an inner concourse, which is where the ticket office is. You then pass through the barriers into a 3rd concourse - and as built, it does seem to be an actual 3rd concourse: The barriers are not in the middle of one large concourse (the way they would be in many large stations), but are located at openings in another wall that separates these concourses.

The walls separating the concourses don't look to me like recent additions: They all look as if they were built long ago, with a Victorian kind of architecture, so I would assume they are all part of the original structure of the station. If that's correct, that seems to imply the station was originally built with three nested concourses, so you had to go through all three in turn to get to the platforms. That seems quite an unusual design. Does anyone know if the station was actually built like that, and if so what the reasons might have been?

The front of Nottingham station was originally a Portico built for carriages (later taxis) to drop off/pick up passengers, it was converted into a concourse a few years ago.

 

[edwin_m]

The front of Nottingham station was originally a Portico built for carriages (later taxis) to drop off/pick up passengers, it was converted into a concourse a few years ago.

Indeed. Something similar still exists at Leicester, and the one at Sheffield was converted in a similar way to Nottingham's but a few years earlier. I imagine the gaps (at Nottingham) where the barriers are would have been where tickets were checked before "open stations", but that was well before I moved to the area.

 

[Andyh82]

Indeed. Something similar still exists at Leicester, and the one at Sheffield was converted in a similar way to Nottingham's but a few years earlier. I imagine the gaps (at Nottingham) where the barriers are would have been where tickets were checked before "open stations", but that was well before I moved to the area.

The same removal of taxis/drop off happened at Newcastle, and it’s planned to happen at York as well

 

[Nottingham59]

This is how is looked before the rebuild:

Nottingham railway station Stock Photo - Alamy

Download this stock image: Nottingham railway station - C1A6Y8 from Alamy's library of millions of high resolution stock photos, illustrations and vectors.

www.alamy.com

The archway to the left of the clock tower was the exit from the taxi rank. (I think taxis went in that way too, with a
turning loop inside the porte-cochere.)

The big archway to the right of the clock was the entrance for public drop off and pick up, with the public vehicle exit round the corner in Station Street Queens Road.

EDIT:
Nottingham Railway Station entrance as it is looked before the revamp.

https://i2-prod.nottinghampost.com/incoming/article1049926.ece/ALTERNATES/s1200e/2112927.jpg

 

[PupCuff]

Aye, Nottingham station has some really nice features; the building itself is comparatively modern being completed in 1904 so it has a fair bit of common design with other local buildings and indeed other stations in the area which were built around the same era.

There's a couple of photographs on the below news piece from the Nottingham Post which show the porte-cochère as built; the walkway through to the main footbridge with the big arch is now the co-op, and the ticket office was originally where the main gateline is now:

Nottingham's train station is a reassuring presence which could easily have been destroyed by fire

 

[duffield]

It's nice that Nottingham also retains its original platform level buildings, some with interesting features (one of the cafes in particular has a fine interior). Leicester unfortunately lost all its platform level buildings, although it is at least in the process of having its street level appearance restored to something like the full original look.

 

[bunnahabhain]

I'm curious about the design of Notttingham station: From the front, you enter what at first sight looks to be the main station building/concourse - except it turns out it isn't: It contains retail outlets, and you go through a wall into a separate 2nd area to an inner concourse, which is where the ticket office is. You then pass through the barriers into a 3rd concourse - and as built, it does seem to be an actual 3rd concourse: The barriers are not in the middle of one large concourse (the way they would be in many large stations), but are located at openings in another wall that separates these concourses.

The walls separating the concourses don't look to me like recent additions: They all look as if they were built long ago, with a Victorian kind of architecture, so I would assume they are all part of the original structure of the station. If that's correct, that seems to imply the station was originally built with three nested concourses, so you had to go through all three in turn to get to the platforms. That seems quite an unusual design. Does anyone know if the station was actually built like that, and if so what the reasons might have been?

The first area is called the Porte Cochere, which was the covered taxi rank. There is also an area attached to this called the 'Southern Concourse' which is where the connection to the taxi rank is.
The second area is the main concourse, which contained access to the ticket office (which used to be where the COOP is) and platforms.
The third area is called the 'Dispersal Bridge' which gives access down to the platforms.

Nottingham was originally accessed from the 'Centre Footbridge' with the main building on Station Street. When Nottingham Victoria was built, the Midland Railway rebuilt their station (Nottingham Midland) to the much grander style seen now, with the old access point retained in the centre of the station.

 

[edwin_m]

When Nottingham Victoria was built, the Midland Railway rebuilt their station (Nottingham Midland) to the much grander style seen now, with the old access point retained in the centre of the station.

They even used the same architect as Victoria.

It's nice that Nottingham also retains its original platform level buildings, some with interesting features (one of the cafes in particular has a fine interior). Leicester unfortunately lost all its platform level buildings, although it is at least in the process of having its street level appearance restored to something like the full original look.

Yes, Nottingham is the only large Midland station (outside London) remaining in something like its historic form. Derby, Leicester and Sheffield all has major changes to the platform areas in the mid-20th century, and with later alterations hardly any of the buildings at Derby pre-date the 1980s.

 

[bunnahabhain]

They even used the same architect as Victoria.

Yes, Nottingham is the only large Midland station remaining in something like its historic form. Derby, Leicester and Sheffield all has major changes to the platform areas in the mid-20th century, and with later alterations hardly any of the buildings at Derby pre-date the 1980s.

More is the pity. The station at platform level could do with a huge amount of money spent on it, but that'll never happen. Being grade 2 listed is a curse as it prevents anything happening quickly.

 

[DynamicSpirit]

The first area is called the Porte Cochere, which was the covered taxi rank. There is also an area attached to this called the 'Southern Concourse' which is where the connection to the taxi rank is.
The second area is the main concourse, which contained access to the ticket office (which used to be where the COOP is) and platforms.
The third area is called the 'Dispersal Bridge' which gives access down to the platforms.

Nottingham was originally accessed from the 'Centre Footbridge' with the main building on Station Street. When Nottingham Victoria was built, the Midland Railway rebuilt their station (Nottingham Midland) to the much grander style seen now, with the old access point retained in the centre of the station.

Thanks| (And for all the other interesting replies). It seems curious that taxis were once allowed to run effectively inside a building. The pollution must've been awful (the only comparable situation I can imagine today is multi-storey car parks, where cars run round in a very enclosed space, and even with today's much less polluting cars, those are not areas that I'd want to hang around breathing the air for a second longer than necessary).

And yes, the building is totally magnificent. I especially love the roof of the middle concourse, with its arched windows.

 

[Western Sunset]

Would've been horse-drawn cabs in the early days when the buildings were designed...

 

[edwin_m]

Thanks| (And for all the other interesting replies). It seems curious that taxis were once allowed to run effectively inside a building. The pollution must've been awful (the only comparable situation I can imagine today is multi-storey car parks, where cars run round in a very enclosed space, and even with today's much less polluting cars, those are not areas that I'd want to hang around breathing the air for a second longer than necessary).

And yes, the building is totally magnificent. I especially love the roof of the middle concourse, with its arched windows.

The port cochere was quite well ventilated, as all the arches that are now glazed were open at the time, creating a through draught. Nevertheless it was pretty horrible with diesel taxis often sitting idling and churning out PM10s.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 27 May 2025 ==

More is the pity. The station at platform level could do with a huge amount of money spent on it, but that'll never happen. Being grade 2 listed is a curse as it prevents anything happening quickly.

I agree with suggestions on other threads that it really needs an accessible bridge near the eastern end to reduce the walk when changing trains. But other than that I don't think it's bad - what else would you suggest?