Thursday 17 September 2026 5:30 am  |  Updated:  Wednesday 16 September 2026 5:46 pm

In defence of Ealing Broadway’s ‘calm space’

By: Sophie Maxwell Brown

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The arrival of an unlit hut at Ealing Broadway has naturally been the source of ridicule, but there is some sense behind it, says design expert Sophie Maxwell Brown

Did Ealing Broadway’s calm space deserve all the ridicule?

For many Londoners, their commute has a way of setting their day’s mood, for better but mostly worse. Studies over the last 10 years have found the physical and psychological burden of travel to be commuters’ primary concern.

Transport for London’s (TfL) new trial “calm space” at Ealing Broadway must have seemed to make so much sense in practice. It’s meant to give any passenger finding their experience overwhelming (neurodivergent travellers especially) an area to pause and regulate. Instead, it’s been the product of ridicule.

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