THERE ARE MANY places in the world that I have never visited. Until today (7 March 2026), one of them was Kilburn Park Underground station. I have passed it many times, but never entered it.  Served by trains on the Bakerloo Line, it was opened in January 1915.

The station’s exterior, the building on the surface, is covered with terracotta tiles, the colour of dried blood. It was designed by Stanley A. Heaps (1880–1962), an English architect who designed several other Underground stations. In 1908, he became the architect for the Underground Electric Railways Company of London. The station was one of the first in London designed for escalators rather than lifts.

The platforms are within the kind cylindrical space which gave rise to the use of the word ‘Tube’ when referring to the Underground railway system. There is a pair of escalators linking the subterranean station with the ticket hall on the surface. Above the middle of the escalator shaft, an oval skylight admits daylight. Within the ticket hall, a surprise awaits the traveller. What used to be the ticket windows have been covered with glass. Behind the glass of each window, plants are growing, and above each of the three ticket windows, there is a sign that reads “Tiny Parks”. And below each window, there is a notice that reads:

“Tiny Parks at Kilburn Park. Brought to you by London Underground working in partnership with the Edible Bus Stop. #TinyParks”

The Edible Bus Stop’s website explained:

“The Edible Bus Stop® is an award-winning spatial design studio specialising in creating accessible and interactive green spaces and multi-sensory experiences.”

The Edible Bus Stop was asked to transform disused Underground ticket offices into “green and engaging spaces”. The project began in 2016, and to date they have planted within the ticket offices not only of Kilburn Park, but also St James Park, Belsize Park, and Wood Green. Interestingly, but possibly coincidentally, each of these stations has a name that suggests greenery.

Emerging from Kilburn Park’s ticket hall is less exciting than being within it. The area around the station is hardly likely to become a destination for tourists in the foreseeable future.