84 Costain - Gatwick Airport Railway Station
COSTAIN - GATWICK AIRPORT RAILWAY STATION
In 1865 Richard Costain and his future brother-in-law made the short crossing from the Isle of Man to the booming port of Liverpool where they successfully began to trade as jobbing builders and undertakers .
The company ’ s first venture outside Merseyside was the construction of workforce accommodation for a steel company at Redcar , northeast England , during the First World War . But it was a move south to build houses in the booming suburbia around 1920s London that really sparked the family firm ’ s expansion . Costain became known both for the construction of large ‘ gentleman ’ s residences ’ in leafy Surrey and estates of more modest dwellings such as that built to house Ford ’ s workforce at Dagenham , Essex .
Their housing expertise found its greatest expression in the construction of Dolphin Square in London ’ s Pimlico . The largest block of flats in Europe at that time , the first 600 apartments were ready for use just a year after construction started in 1935 . The second phase contained innovations not only in the swimming pool , squash courts and restaurant contained within the building but in its novel centralised heating system , involving waste heat being piped from Battersea Power Station on the opposite bank of the Thames .
Over the years Costain have developed their portfolio and built airports , petrochemical plants , waste treatment works and schools – creating the building blocks of modern life and improving the quality of life of the people who use them .
They have gained a reputation for unusual levels of entrepreneurialism and innovation in solving engineering problems around the globe . Iconic projects have included the Thames Barrier , which has been raised more than 80 times since the 1980s to prevent London being flooded , and the construction of the Channel Tunnel and the Channel Tunnel Rail Link , including the revitalisation of St Pancras Station to accept Eurostar trains .
The company regularly win awards for quality , innovation and safety . In 2010 Costain was named Contractor of the Decade by one of the UK ’ s most influential construction publications , New Civil Engineer .
Costain have now been appointed by Network Rail Southern Region to deliver the £ 150 million redevelopment of Gatwick Airport station .
Costain , which previously led the scheme through its planning and design stages , will now undertake the improvement works needed to create a safer , more convenient interchange between the station platforms and Gatwick International Airport .
Gatwick airport is the UK ’ s second busiest airport with the rail station one of the 10 busiest stations in the UK outside of London , handling
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