The new transport hub and town square in North Shields are part of North Tyneside Council’s ‘Ambition for North Shields’ Masterplan, aimed at breathing new life into the town centre and riverside by providing the right environment to support businesses, leisure users and retail.
The building brings all bus services in the town together and closer to the existing Metro station making it easier and more convenient for people to choose sustainable forms of travel. The main entrance opens onto the new town square which provides space for events and leisure activities with new landscaping creating a much-needed green space in the heart of the town centre.
The plan layout of the building is formed by two wings accommodating the passenger concourse which provides access to the bus stands. The building has been designed to respond to the settings, the brief, and the constraints in a contemporary manner. The concourse uses large areas of glazing and translucent cladding which, with the ETFE roof to the central section of the concourse, provides a light and airy space for passenger circulation and waiting areas.
The building incorporates on-site energy generation through solar panels and heat pumps and is Net Carbon Zero in use, the first to be certified as such for North Tyneside Council and one of the first of its kind in the UK. As part of the design a Life Cycle Carbon Assessment was undertaken to enable embodied carbon to be reduced by 40%.
The project was funded through the Transforming Cities Fund via Transport North East, the North of Tyne Combined Authority, and North Tyneside Council and constructed by Willmott Dixon.
