Chester Bus Exchange

Project Info

PROJECT: Chester Bus Interchange

CLIENT: Graham Construction

MARKET SECTOR: Transport

PRODUCTS USED: Technal MX, Glass Balustrades

RED PROJECT VALUE: £525k

Requirement

The requirement was to provide glazing to this one-storey bus interchange in the centre of Chester in order to enclose the terminus, retail space and café. The interchange was designed by the architect in a horseshoe shape and our curtain walling was to follow this line. The external balustrading was also required within our scope to emphasise the building shape and create a fantastic overall aesthetic.

Background

This £10 million bus station forms an important visual element to the historic City Gateway site. Creating and delivering a high quality Public Realm forecourt area and concourse to the Bus Interchange, this presents a strong civic face to the roundabout and approach, whilst complementing the composition. The facility includes drop-off, layover, pick-up and interchange space for the majority of bus and Park & Ride services in the city, 13 bus stands, cycle stands provision, taxi stands, a fully accessible contemporary Bus Interchange, a covered concourse for waiting, a drivers rest area, a coffee shop pod, a newsagents, an information desk and a full changing places facility.

The delivery of the facility has brought a number of transport-related benefits, including better integration between bus services and the railway station and improved links to pedestrian and cycle routes along the Shropshire Union Canal. It has also reduced delays and congestion, increased bus patronage and reduced single occupant car use and increased National Express presence.

Project Comment

Chester Bus Station was a fantastic project alongside a great team from Grahams. We worked together to deliver a challenging project – the bonus was having such a large laydown area for our materials – doesn’t happen very often! The finished project looks great – a number of our staff live in the area and we are all proud of what has been delivered for the community.

Michael Green, Managing Director, RED Systems

Design

Our design team enjoyed being part of this scheme. A lot of the design element incorporated bespoke engineered bracketry, curved-on-plan glazing and integrated mesh panelling. Automatic doors were required to provide entry and exit from the interchange onto the public transport – critically these needed to be designed to incorporate an induction loop so that the doors could only open once a bus had pulled up to the stop. Regular design team meetings were held with the architect and the main contractor to ensure that the finished scheme met the architectural vision. Everyone involved in the project is extremely pleased with the end result – the original design intent was certainly realised and RED Systems are proud to have been a part of this.