TfL - Elizabeth Line

In 2010 Wallace Sewell entered and won an open competition to create a new moquette for the London Underground. This now iconic 'Barman' design depicts various city landmarks such as the London Eye, St Paul’s Cathedral, Elizabeth Tower (Big Ben) and Tower Bridge, and can be seen on the Northern, Central, Jubilee, and Piccadilly lines.

We have worked with TfL on numerous projects and have, to date, designed moquette for the Croydon Tramlink, TfL Rail, the Overground, the Bakerloo and the latest line added to the network, the Elizabeth Line!

The Crossrail project was approved in 2007 and construction began in 2009, with an original plan to open in 2018. There were initial delays and then a pandemic to work around, which caused delays until 2022.

Travelling on one of the brand new, smooth and speedy trains (the British Rail Class 345 Aventra to be precise), you will be sitting on Wallace Sewell's latest TfL moquette design.

We were invited by TfL to create a distinctive moquette that would become part of the identity of these trains but the overall colour had to be purple, a regal tone chosen in honour of the Queen, to represent the new Elizabeth line. Taking their original TfL Rail moquette as a starting place (see below), Emma and Harriet evolved the design using the same grid inspired by a building spotted at Stratford station.

Many designers find purple a difficult colour to work with, but the team rose to the challenge. We can work with any colour, and as Emma says, "it's just what you put with it." The overall impression is definitely purple but close-up it is a mix of horizontal blocks of violet, lilac, cream and grey, with occasional pinstripes of red, blue, orange, white and mint green. Not only do these pinstripes add a feeling of movement and speed to the design, but they are a nod to the other tube lines that interact with the Elizabeth Line route. Moquette is a hard-wearing fabric but the design needs to work hard too - the busy pattern works like camouflage to hide inevitable dirt and stains from use (seats are reupholstered every seven years on average) and yet it can't be too distracting for passengers either.

In the words of Harriet, “With a transport fabric, you should be able to sit on it and it just works. It’s utilitarian and in some ways, you shouldn’t even notice it."

To follow in the footsteps of design pioneers such as Marianne Straub and Misha Black, to have the opportunity to create an iconic moquette design for TfL was something Emma and Harriet only dreamed of when they were at college together. Winning the competition back in 2010 was a dream come true and a creative ambition and a huge lifetime achievement so now having six designs whizzing around London, being the backdrop to people's daily lives, they are immensely proud.

Emma was a guest on Hidden London Hangouts, a brilliant and insightful YouTube series from the London Transport Museum that uncovers the secrets of the Underground and takes you behind the scenes at sites across the network usually unseen by the public. Presented by a team of experts, headed up by host and self-confessed moquette super fan, Alex Grundon, this episode gives us an insight into London's newest train line, and Emma talks about the inspiration and challenges of designing the unique and very purple fabric!