Artist's impression of the Canterbury Works Headhouse.

Canterbury Works Headhouse

We’re building eight ventilation (vent) shafts in London to support the high-speed railway. These vent shafts ventilate the tunnels for the railway and provide emergency access. The Canterbury Works vent shaft will connect to the Euston Approaches to Northolt Tunnels. Above each vent shaft will be a headhouse, including one at Canterbury Road.

The Canterbury Works headhouse is located in South Kilburn, behind Canterbury Road and Canterbury Terrace and next to the existing railway tracks.

The site sits within residential areas to the west and south. Locally listed Canterbury House is to the south and St Mary’s Catholic Primary School is to the east.

Watch on YouTube - Canterbury Works site becomes HS2's first diesel-free site

Headhouse construction

Works at the Canterbury Works vent shaft and headhouse site was brought to a ‘safe stop’ in September 2024, with the expectation that works would not resume until spring 2025. However, as part of a recent and ongoing review of the programme by HS2, we do not now expect works to resume in 2025. Our Canterbury Works vent shaft and headhouse site will remain in a safe stop.

During the safe stop, the hoarding will remain in place, and there will be 24-hour security. Some site activities will continue taking place, such as monitoring, design and maintenance.

There may also be periods when we need to use the Canterbury Works site for storage and welfare facilities. We’ll keep the local community informed about activities at the site.

The local community engagement team and the HS2 Helpdesk will still be available to answer your questions.

Slide 1 of 3: Birds eye view of the Canterbury Works Ventilation Shaft.

Slide 2 of 3: Canterbury Works Ventilation Shaft in South Kilburn, London, showing the shaft and the new electric crawler crane.

Slide 3 of 3: Canterbury Works Ventilation Shaft in South Kilburn, London, showing the shaft and the new electric crawler crane.

Headhouse design

After consulting the local community on the designs of the future Canterbury Works Headhouse, we have reduced the size of the vertical vent stacks to the minimum required dimensions and height. We also reduced the size of the chimneys.

In addition, we reviewed our landscaping plans to maximise the height of the tree screening between the headhouse and residential buildings on Canterbury Terrace and Canterbury House. We will plant trees in a zig zag formation to provide greater coverage between the residential and headhouse buildings. The green roofs have been adapted to maximise the aesthetic visual impact for residents in Canterbury Terrace and Carlton House.

We are planning to use similar materials at most headhouses between Euston and West Ruislip. The materials palette has been chosen according to the local environment, moving from brick through metal and towards wood as we move between rural and urban locations. Our future landscape plan considers local ecology and the vegetation requirements for a site next to a live railway. Our landscape design includes block / slab paving and trees and scrub habitat planting. We’re also planning to install a green roof on the headhouse buildings.

Canterbury Works FAQs – April 2025

Canterbury Works Headhouse – online community update – February 2022

Canterbury Works Headhouse information boards (March 2021)