SGP completes £9.6 million bus interchange in Stevenage

Stephen George + Partners LLP (SGP) is celebrating the completion of a major regional transportation project in Stevenage. The new £9.6 million 750 sqm Stevenage Bus Interchange – which will open on Sunday 26 June – marks a key moment in Stevenage Borough Council’s long-term plan to regenerate Stevenage Town Centre.

The £1bn regeneration programme will create new homes, offices, retail and leisure facilities in Stevenage Town Centre, and a wholesale transformation of the public realm.

Cllr Sharon Taylor OBE, Leader of Stevenage Borough Council and Portfolio Holder for Regeneration, said: “This is an exciting milestone in Stevenage’s regeneration. We’ve worked closely with SGP to create a user-friendly, visually bold design that offers more to those using bus services. The imminent opening of the Bus Interchange allows us to progress exciting proposals within the town centre, and we would like to thank our partners for helping us to achieve this”.

Explains Hing Ow, Associate: “Although the design is very functional and practical, the Interchange uses a strong, sweeping architectural style to create a positive and welcoming landmark for passengers and passers-by.”

SGP’s design delivers a modern bus station with upgraded passenger facilities, as well as improving connectivity between rail, bus and town centre services. A centralised concourse canopy structure is the focus of the new Interchange, housing retail and passenger waiting areas under a simple V-shape roof that over sails the parked buses. The roof overhangs from a central avenue of columns to create the expansive space below and a central barrel rooflight maximises natural light.

The project promotes a greater integration of transport services, creating a ‘transport hub’ for bus and rail passengers, supporting connectivity and accessibility to the town centre and with London and other parts of the country. With 10 DIRO stands around the central concourse, the design provides for the efficient movement of traffic and people, safely segregating vehicles and pedestrians.

Alistair Branch, Partner & Head of Transport for SGP: “This project is particularly exciting because it is the first of our major transport projects to be completed in collaboration with our Head office in Leicester as part of a strategy to grow transport architecture experience outside of the core team in Leeds. Our portfolio has developed very quickly, securing over £175 million worth of live infrastructure projects in just five years.  It is special to see such a stand-out, architecturally strong project come to fruition. It is also a testament to SGP’s ability to share knowledge and technical skills across our offices, enhancing our ability to build practical, design-led schemes and deliver what the client wants.”

Other projects in SGP’s transport pipeline include the £15.8 million bus station in Halifax which started on site in September, as well as the development of £30 million worth of Transforming Cities Fund projects at Heckmondwike Bus Station, Dewsbury Bus Station, Huddersfield Bus Station and the Huddersfield Bus Station gateway scheme. The scheme also follows the successful completion and handover this year of a £43 million Broadmarsh bus station and MSCP development in Nottingham.