Why do some stations have these alcoves?

12 comments

1. I have always wondered the same! Practical or aesthetic? Seating? Spaces for advertisement?  

2. I’m no architect or structural engineer but I presume they serve the same purpose as an arched bridge in that a curved vertical wall hold more weight back in an retaining wall than a flat one.

3. Probably to help hold back the earth.

4. They were originally built as an aesthetic feature to give the appearance of more space. Barbican station did this well.

   The electrical installation here is a later addition.

5. Crack, blowies etc

6. Alcoves? Like nooks and crannies?

7. He does yoga

8. These are brick retaining walls. Unlike reinforced concrete which we use now, brick walls do not do well under pressure against thier face which results in bending.

   Much like an arched bridge these are designed to spread loads in compression, with regular buttesses. The victorians built styles of retaining walls everywhere.

   They are a wonderful example of how functional design can create aesthetically pleasing architecture when designing within the limitations of the materials at hand.

9. Zeez alcoves ? Sort of, nooks and crannies ? Yez, I like zis, nooks and crannies

10. Wrong answers only. The Romans did them so they will protect sculptures from rain.
    Lepricorns used to shoot their rainbow from such places.
    There is electrical infrastructure there. Placed in the alcoves.
    Make it look posh

11. They are sometimes called [blind arches](https://sremg.org.uk/structures/struct_11.html)

    The wall has been built like this to minimize the amount of materials used to retain the soil behind it.

12. Fun fact – if you hold your phone a bit closer to that coil of wires, it’ll start to wirelessly charge

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