Work on Gants Hill station started in 1937 but was not completed until 1947 because of the war. Located under the busy A12 road intersection, the station was built within a network of pedestrian subways, leading to the ticket hall. At the foot of the escalators was this grand barrel-vaulted waiting hall between the platforms. The design was apparently a tribute to the Moscow Metro, opened in 1935. The Soviet engineers took advice from London Underground after being impressed by Piccadilly Circus and copied Holden's lighting scheme.