From the user's perspective, any refurbishment of this dreary link would have been welcome - it was dirty and uninspiring even if it wasn't really long or dark enough to be particularly threatening.
The entrance to the underpass has been improved at both sides - on the Deptford side with new trees, paving, a planted edging and decorative steel fencing panels, and on the New Cross side by improved paving and a direct link across to Fordham Park.
The architects have managed to include some rather artistic steel panels as part of the new lighting design through the underpass itself - the cut-out floral design is similar to those used as fencing on the Deptford approach and they are supported by steel piping units which have the main lights set into them.
I am slightly dubious as to how resistant to vandalism these panels and lighting units will prove - even after being in place for a very short time, a couple of the tubular lighting units were wrapped in hessian (perhaps broken?) and one of the lights behind the decorative panels was not working. The working versions of these lights change colour and give the underpass a very pleasant visual ambience at night time - quite an improvement on the previous set-up.
4 comments:
I hope they'll paint those panels. They look cheap left as exposed steel, as if they couldn't be bothered to finish the job.
I think they will endure much better unpainted; painted steel often flakes after time unless it's prepped meticulously.
While this is overall a huge improvement I was a bit sad that hey painted over the old NO MOTORS AlLOWED DBC sign on the lintel of the Deptford end of the tunnel, which had survived for around four decades, since before Deptford Borough Council was abolished in 1964.
Des has a point
Any photos?
Are those light covers within the tube lights glass?
They are quite susceptible to damage malicious or not!
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