London 2017

RIBA Judges comments:

A charming and creative building, made possible by a young and ambitious client representative and in-house architect team. It is a first building in what the jury hopes will be a continuing programme to improve the quality of bus stations across London.

It makes a brilliant case for the value of beautiful design and aesthetics on even small-scale transport infrastructure, and for projects that are fully achievable under budget with the right leadership and vision.

The architect who designed the project trained at Herzog de Meuron and brings an ambition to the project for a bus station as an arts pavilion. The vernacular detailing uses brick, timber, corten and planting, to soften what needs to be an exceptionally robust piece of architecture. The bright bus-drivers’ staff room; elevated to the first floor and surrounded by large windows onto the street below; provides a calm and dignified facility for people working a tiring job. De-cluttering and signage has been very carefully considered against a backdrop of rigid TfL regulations and the delight of people using the bus station was evident.

Photographer: Alex Upton