 With the funds available from the UERL, construction began in July 1902 at Knightsbridge, before the formal approval of the merger of the B & PCR and GN & SR. Work proceeded quickly, enabling the UERL to record in its annual report in October 1904 that 80 per cent of the tunnels had been completed and that track laying was about to begin. Stations were provided with surface buildings designed by architect Leslie Green in the UERL house-style. This consisted of two-storey steel-framed buildings faced with red glazed terracotta blocks, with wide semi-circular windows on the upper floor. Except for Finsbury Park, where the platforms were close enough to the surface to be accessed by stairs, and Gillespie Road where a long ramp was used, each of the stations with platforms in tube tunnels was provided with between two and four lifts and an emergency spiral staircase in a separate shaft.
