The station was designed by the architect Charles Holden and is a well-preserved example of the modernist house style of London Transport in the 1930s.

The ticket hall is an enormous brick box, with two large ventilation towers, half-sunk into the surrounding ground.

Two of the street entrances gave access to the tram routes to and from Alexandra Palace via tramway island exits into Turnpike Lane.

[7] In common with Manor House and Wood Green, the station tunnels have a diameter of 23 feet (7 metres) and were designed for the greater volume of traffic expected.

In the 1920s buses operated from a garage on the adjacent Whymark Avenue until in 1932 Turnpike Lane station was built.

In May 2013, the government confirmed the station to be on its main consultation route for the Crossrail 2 proposal, to be on the blue-printed New Southgate branch.