Creative Central

25.05.10

(Architecture)

Residents are being asked to have their say on what they would like to see in their new city centre bus station.

Six top international design teams have been short-listed for the new bus station. On Wednesday 26 May, Stoke-on-Trent City Council will be holding a public exhibition, showing the initial design concepts of each of these teams and asking local people what they think and what is important to them in their new bus station.

Residents are invited to the East West Centre Exhibition Unit in Charles Street between 10am and 6pm on Wednesday 26 May. Feedback from the event will be given to the judging panel, which will then decide which design team to appoint.

The new bus station, which is the first phase of the £275 million redevelopment of the East West Centre, will be an important new transport link and provide a new gateway to the city centre.

Councillor Brian Ward, Stoke-on-Trent City Council cabinet member for regeneration, said: “The bus station is a major step in the regeneration of the city centre. It will create a safe, warm and state-of-the-art facility for visitors to Stoke-on-Trent. Who better to tell us what will work and how the bus station should be designed than the people that use the current facility day in, day out. It is important that we get a design which will complement the new shopping centre and which people want and need.”

The six short-listed design teams are:

• Austin Smith Lord, the practice behind the proposed new €100 million Tara Street Station in Dublin, lead architect with sub consultants Curtins, Hilson Moran & JMP
• BDP, which was responsible for the new Number 1 court at Wimbledon, lead architect with sub consultants Mott MacDonald & AA Projects
• Grimshaw, the architects behind the Eden Project in Cornwall, lead architect with sub consultant Arup
• John McAslan & Partners, which is working on the masterplan for the redevelopment of Marble Arch in London, lead architect with sub consultants Mott Macdonald, AECOM & Billing Jackson
• Wilkinson Eyre, which designed the Millennium Bridge in Gateshead, lead architect with sub consultants Arup, Drivers Jonas Deloitte & Buchanan
• Zaha Hadid, the practice working on the London Aquatics Centre for the 2012 Olympics, lead architect with sub consultants AKT, Savell Bird & Axon, Max Fordham.

Each of the teams has put together a display that will be unveiled at the event. The drawings are not the final designs for the bus station but show initial concepts to give people an idea of the capabilities of each team.

Representatives from the city council and Realis Estates, the developer behind the East West Centre redevelopment project, will be on hand to answer any questions about the scheme.

A final decision on which team is to be appointed to design the new bus station is expected to be made next month (June) by a judging panel made up of representatives from North Staffordshire Regeneration Partnership, Realis Estates and an independent architectural adviser.

Duncan Mathieson, Managing Director of Realis Estates, said: “The new bus station is a vital part of our plans for the redevelopment of the East West Centre. It will become a stunning new gateway not just for the scheme itself but for the whole of the city centre.

“The redeveloped East West Centre will enable Stoke-on-Trent to take its rightful place as one of the top 30 shopping destinations in the country. The city has a bright future with a number of major investment projects now either underway or in the pipeline. We are proud to be part of these exciting plans.”

The new city bus station will be built on the current John Street surface car park.

Under a development agreement approved by with city council in December 2009, Realis Estates has committed £4.5m to the bus station. To deliver the citywide benefit from an enhanced transport interchange, Stoke-on-Trent City Council is also to invest in the new bus station and the NSRP is seeking financial support from Advantage West Midlands.

Realis’ scheme will see the East West Centre redeveloped to create a new, 750,000 sq ft high quality regional shopping centre that will include a department store, a wide range of new shops, cafés, restaurants, vibrant public spaces, a multi-screen cinema, a hotel and improved parking.

Designed by internationally renowned architects Benoy, the new centre will become a landmark destination that will revitalise the retail scene in Stoke-on-Trent and tempt shoppers back from cities such as Manchester and Birmingham. The new development will create thousands of new jobs as well as providing a significant and sustained boost to the local economy.

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