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MacEwen Award 2025 special mention: Halifax Bus Station

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Words:
Chris Foges

Halifax’s new bus station, by Stephen George & Partners, is an unusually ambitious piece of civic infrastructure

Follow a natural desire line through the old wool markets of Halifax and you are delivered precisely to an entrance of the Yorkshire town’s new bus station, in one of three historic stone buildings integrated into the complex. 

Approach along busy Market Street, and the process of arrival is equally intuitive and welcoming. A gentle slope descends to the main entrance below an angular portico; behind glass walls, a broad concourse drops gently away, filled with people waiting for their ride or simply choosing the station as a pleasant place to meet. The ease with which the station has settled into Halifax, and the air of calm within, belie complex problems solved to deliver an unusually ambitious piece of civic infrastructure by architect Stephen George & Partners (SGP) and engineer AECOM.

The smooth synthesis of several key principles in the design impressed MacEwen Award judges. ‘It’s a project with so many pluses: biodiversity, accessibility, heritage,’ said juror Kathy MacEwen. ‘It’s an unusual but crucial investment by the council – public transport can have a huge impact and transformative power.'

Triangular roof windows illuminate concourses meeting at the Travel Centre.
Triangular roof windows illuminate concourses meeting at the Travel Centre. Credit: Daniel Higham/Overvue

The new terminus replaces one built in the 1980s – well-received at the time but with features that later proved problematic. Lightweight bus shelters were in long, serried strips, creating multiple risky crossing points, while the dispersed facility allowed antisocial behaviour in remote corners. Moreover, its layout produced a plethora of steps, kerbs and other obstacles. 

‘In public transport there has been a strong shift to accessibility,’ notes SGP partner Alistair Branch, a seasoned designer of bus stations, ‘but the problem here is that Halifax is built on a hill.’ 

That topography is cleverly negotiated by a Y-shaped plan and a 1:28 sloping concourse that traverses the fall of the site, dropping 4m along the length of its two main arms. As all buses pull up to the largely glazed facades below a sheltering roof canopy, it’s only at the tertiary northern entrance that passengers might cross a roadway. 

The needs of visually impaired and deaf passengers were considered alongside those with limited mobility, for instance in the clear marking of exits in a poured resin floor.

Consultation with local accessibility groups fed into initial concepts and detailed design. ‘We felt that was important and the client embraced it,’ says Branch. One result was the inclusion of the town’s only Changing Places bathroom, for use by any severely disabled person. Those groups were also given pre-opening tours in order to spread the word through the community.

The new structure adjoins the former Sion School, now a station entrance.
The new structure adjoins the former Sion School, now a station entrance. Credit: Daniel Higham/Overvue

Sustainability was another central concern. Most striking is the biodiverse green roof, which helps to attenuate rainwater run-off – a notable plus in a bus station where swathes of asphalt are unavoidable. 

Some smart thinking increased the environmental benefits further: a light sedum mat covers the canopies that cantilever 5m over bus stands, and is counterweighted by a heavier wildflower meadow on the main concourse roof, reducing the amount of steel required. Viewed from high ground, the stepped, verdant roofscape blends happily with wooded hills beyond the town.

Equal care was taken to tie the building to its architectural context. Slabs of sandstone lend warmth and weight to facades. Inside, this is echoed in a durable wainscotting of porcelain tile. Where the main concourse meets the 19th-century Sion School – now a grand second entrance and staff rooms – a glazed collar discreetly articulates the junction of old and new. Two other listed buildings on site have also been subtly revamped and given ancillary uses.

Consultation with local accessibility groups fed into initial concepts and detailed design

For safety and security reasons, sliding glass doors only open when a bus is present.
For safety and security reasons, sliding glass doors only open when a bus is present. Credit: Daniel Higham/Overvue

Walking around the bus station with Branch, I hear of many challenges, such as the cost-driven switch from structural timber to steel. There was also the anticipated discovery of human remains, and a bus operator’s unexpected purchase of vehicles with doors in the wrong place, requiring rapid redesign of bus stands. The greatest puzzle, he says, was how to allow continued operation of the station throughout construction. 

Solutions show the intelligence that characterises the scheme as a whole. The ticket and information office in the centre of the building provides a point of orientation and easy surveillance of the whole concourse. Bins and bike stores are tucked neatly into the cleft of the Y, below an open-air café terrace. The café itself has been deliberately oriented into the terminus, promising better custom than its outward-facing predecessor.

User feedback is being collected but, anecdotally, the new station has gone down well. On a Monday lunchtime, the place hums with activity. ‘It’s a lot more secure, more comfortable – much nicer,’ says one member of staff. The mayor and local MP have trumpeted its contribution to the town centre – both architecturally and economically, as the bus station reinvigorates the high street. For 15,000 daily passengers, travel has been much improved but the benefits of good design will be felt far beyond. 

Landscape works around the station include planting and the closure of one road.
Landscape works around the station include planting and the closure of one road. Credit: Daniel Higham/Overvue

In numbers 

Contract cost £16.7 million
GIFA 1,860m2
Daily bus movements 800

Credits

Client West Yorkshire Combined Authority
Client partner Calderdale Council
Lead designer Stephen George & Partners
Lead contractor Wilmott Dixon Construction
Pre-construction engineer and post-contract project manager AECOM

 

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