Energy Saving Subway Station

Following on from yesterday's post on the London Underground's green products, I came across an interesting story on Current about an energy saving subway station in Tokyo.


Tadao Ando, the designer of Shibuya Station, told Wallpaper magazine "It's composed of a central void contained inside an egg-shaped shell and aims to reduce the station's dependency on air conditioning equipments by letting the outside air blow into the underground space, creating a natural ventilation system that is energy saving."

As the London Underground has very little dependency on air conditioning equipment (mainly because it currently doesn't have any - apart from comedic giant fans), I doubt whether we'll be seeing this in London any time soon.

Ando made some interesting points about orientation in the subway & how spatial improvements could help this:

"The existing underground stations in Tokyo are generally very confusing, generating a sense of disorientation, making it very difficult to find your way and getting around. This is due to the fact that it is very difficult to recognize your own position in relation to the street level's world and in addition to the constant shift of direction you are forced to make in the labyrinthine underground world. In order to help people's orientation in this underground world, giving them a sense of spatial perception and improving the functionality of the station, I created a 15 metre central void from concourse level B2 to the platform level B5, and wrapped it all up within a symbolic egg-shaped shell."


The station design looks amazing although not sure what the mirrored parts would do to my sense of spatial perception. Environmental blog Planet Green n Pink said "The idea behind the design was to keep a continuous flow of energy moving smoothly. That translates to a positive experience for the traveler and very good Feng Shui."

Good Feng Shui & a positive energy experience on your commute, please can have some Japanese design on London's Tube stations.

Eco friendly Tube products

Looks like the London Underground are doing their bit to help people get a little greener with some new products launched for their shop. Mags put me on to these Envelope Angels after seeing them as a Secret Santa gift in I like.


"They're labels you stick over the address on a used envelope to make it shiny enough to use again. They come in two models, original angelic and London Underground issue (above). They're really nicely designed - the box acts as a dispenser which you can refill, and Blue Marmalade, the people who make them are so nice they'll even recycle the plastic stickerbacks for you."

The Tube one is illustrated with a stretch of the Northern line leading to Angel station, and carries the slogan: 'Another journey for every envelope'. Hopefully it's a better journey than an average one on the Misery Line! They're only £5.86 for a pack which contains 100 "To: Labels" and 100 "From: labels". The company's tip is to include a label pair within each envelope you send and pass on the idea to those you mail.

Blue Marmalade also make some very cool looking pendant lampshades. They're made from single sheet of recyclable material and when they light up reveal the Tube map illuminated in their folds.


The lamps which are £24.27 come in Classic styles (for high ceilinged rooms) & Intimo (for more intimate settings!). They can be used with energy saver bulbs and bulbs up to 100W.

Apparently the fold-out design means there's not much waste during production and the material is also recyclable. Based in Edinburgh, Blue Marmalade aim to be as green as possible, and say that harmful chemicals and manufacturing processes are removed from their designs.

Trent Jennings from the company said: "The Underground map represents British graphic design at its best; it has strong functionality but also great visual impact." I think it's a great idea for a lamp and I'm sure it will be gracing my lounge very soon.