West Bromwich Bus Station
Client:
Halcrow Rail
Year of Completion:
2002
Architect/Designer: Mark Worrall Associates Main Contractor/Customer: Ballast PLC.
Architect/Designer: Mark Worrall Associates Main Contractor/Customer: Ballast PLC.
The award winning West Bromwich bus station, opened in Spring 2002, is the home to two of Architen Landrell’s tensile fabric canopies. This new development, commissioned to enhance the aesthetic appearance of what might have been a bland, functional building, entirely replaced the ageing structure that had been there for many previous years.
The smart new bus station in the West Midlands offers bus passengers a safe and appealing environment to wait for their transport. The enlarged station now has the ability house 22 buses at a single time, and receives over 200 buses every hour.
The fabric canopy forms a significant element of the development as a whole. Architen Landrell was asked to design, manufacture and install a 7m canopy, and two 9m canopies, from PVC coated polyester to over the main bus shelter building, as well as one triple cone to provide a separate area of shelter.
Each canopy was a self supporting structure, independently so from the membrane, comprising a central mast(s) and a series of upper and lower radial spars, much like an umbrella.
Designers were keen to protect the commuters from the weather so all the fabric was treated with PVDF lacquer to add another layer of protection. The canopies were also designed so that rainwater runs off the surface of each canopy membrane and is directed to the perimeter connection points, from where it is funnelled down through the lower radial spars into the central column and exits at it’s base.
The unusual canopies, which liven up the appearance of the bus station, contributed to the station's prestigious national award in the Infrastructure category at the Bus Industry Awards.
