HS2 has revealed its vision for a new
station at Curzon Street, Birmingham with a design by WSP, Grimshaw,
Glenn Howells Architects and
landscape architecture by GrantAssociates.
The city centre
station is one of two new stations planned by HS2 for the Midlands, the second
will be in Solihull with a design team led by Arup.
Images of the two
stations have been revealed this month at Birmingham Library in the first of a
series of public engagement events during October, which give people the
opportunity to see the new designs and give feedback.
Curzon Street
Station will be the first brand new intercity station built in Britain since
the 19th century, creating a new landmark for Birmingham and boosting
opportunities for regeneration in the city.
Due to open in 2026,
the new station will offer seven high speed platforms to rail passengers, along
with significant new public spaces around the new station.
The station, which
will be located next to the original 1838 Curzon Street Station, will be fully
integrated into an extended tram network, as well as offering pedestrian,
cycle, taxi, bus and conventional rail connections to the rest of the city and
the wider West Midlands.
HS2 has a set of key
design ambitions based around People, Time and Place which was the starting
point for the design of the urban realm at Curzon Street and will include four
key areas as detailed below:
·
Station Square is the most significant new public space, located in front of
the station it gives a sense of arrival into Birmingham. Visible to rail
passengers arriving at the city, it provides a spacious, welcoming area to
people and provides easy links into the city centre and Digbeth.
·
Curzon Promenade provides views of Old Curzon Street Station and complements
the setting of Eastside City Park. It provides an active and interesting space
to be in as well as linking to other travel amenities.
·
Curzon Square reflects the historic setting and buildings and links well to
Digbeth, offering space for outdoor public events.
·
Curzon Street provides a flexible lawn space, providing an extension of
Eastside City Park and links into wider plans for the future development of the
area.
Each of these public
spaces will incorporate cycle lanes and cycle parks as well as clear pedestrian
routes, trees, planting and gardens. They form a part of HS2’s wider aim of
delivering a ‘green corridor’ across the whole route, creating new ecological
habitats, community and amenity spaces to help integrate the new line and
stations into the surrounding landscape and environment.
Chris Grayling MP,
Secretary of State for Transport, and Andy Street, Mayor of the West Midlands,
marked the start of works on the site of the future Curzon Street station
earlier this month. Works are underway on 60 sites across the route from London
to Birmingham, with over 7,000 jobs supported by the programme across the
country leading to 30,000 jobs at peak construction.
“Bringing these
designs to the public is a huge milestone for a scheme that constitutes one of
the biggest infrastructure projects that the UK has seen in a century,"
said Keith French, director at Grant Associates.
"Birmingham
will be at the heart of HS2 with Curzon Street acting as an instantly
recognisable, landmark destination. Our role is to create public spaces that
enhance this sense of place and character, providing vibrant landscape spaces
that connect the different elements of the station together and help link
different parts of Birmingham together.
"We want to
enable everyone to enjoy the experience of Curzon Street, making the most of
its city views while encouraging wildlife and biodiversity into this most urban
of environments by creating space for nature.”
