URBAN REALM DESIGN |
Brighton Station Public Realm | Brighton + Hove City Council
The new public realm to the south of Brighton Station was completed in the summer of 2015 and is now fully operational. This complex project included the redesign of a small bus station on Terminus Place and the reorganisation of traffic movements and servicing on Upper Gloucester Road, Junction Road, Surrey Street and Queens Road to dramatically improve the quality of the streetscape.
We were commissioned by Brighton and Hove City Council (BHCC) to develop designs from the conceptual level, through extensive public consultation, to detailed design. We were then retained through the technical design and construction stages, to work closely with BHCC Highways and their term contractor RJ Dance. Overall, BHCC spent over £2million on this, the first phase of improvements.
Conceptually, the design creates a new positive and legible arrival/departure experience for train passengers along with an improved townscape to the benefit of the local community. A new clutter free forecourt was laid out using a locally quarried, hard sandstone (similar to Yorkstone) in a ‘plank’ format, laid north to south, to reinforce the route to the sea. The bus stop area was remodeled, to create a smaller footprint, whilst retaining the previous operational capacity, to provide safe step-free access to the buses. Bus shelters have been upgraded throughout and a widened footway and shelter outside the Railway Bell pub has been introduced. The taxi rank has remained in its original position under the forecourt canopy but has a simplified access/egress arrangement. A large number of hardwood and cast aluminum seats, with backs and arm rests, were installed on the forecourt allowing it to function as genuine public space for the first time.
A small one-way traffic gyratory system was introduced to allow footways to be widened on Queens Road, the primary route to the sea front. The footways were also able to accommodate new trees, seats, cycle stands and bus shelters. Footway level loading bays were inset between the trees to allow convenient and safe servicing. A contra-flow cycle lane was installed on Queens Road to provide access to the new cycle hub in the station. Similarly, as part of the one way system, Surrey Street was reduced from two to one traffic lane to accommodate tree planting, cycle parking and loading. The loading bay was detailed in setts fashioned from the historic granite kerbs salvaged from the street.
The redesigned junction on Upper Gloucester Road allowed the north-south pedestrian crossing distance to be reduced considerably and footpaths to be widened, on this, the main route to the sea. The widened footways, with permeable gravel verges, now host tables and chairs from adjacent cafes as well as trees and cycle stands. A large semi-mature Elm tree, with a hardwood circular seat around the trunk, was planted as a centrepiece to the space.
Decorative lighting columns throughout the area were replaced with smaller, simpler and more efficient LED units. The footways were surfaced in pre-cast concrete slabs and concrete ‘Tegula’ blocks for the inset loading bays with kerbs throughout in granite. The bus stops on the forecourt were paved in a high rigidity block paver with a granite aggregate finish, engineered to withstand heavy vehicle turning movements.
We were commissioned by Brighton and Hove City Council (BHCC) to develop designs from the conceptual level, through extensive public consultation, to detailed design. We were then retained through the technical design and construction stages, to work closely with BHCC Highways and their term contractor RJ Dance. Overall, BHCC spent over £2million on this, the first phase of improvements.
Conceptually, the design creates a new positive and legible arrival/departure experience for train passengers along with an improved townscape to the benefit of the local community. A new clutter free forecourt was laid out using a locally quarried, hard sandstone (similar to Yorkstone) in a ‘plank’ format, laid north to south, to reinforce the route to the sea. The bus stop area was remodeled, to create a smaller footprint, whilst retaining the previous operational capacity, to provide safe step-free access to the buses. Bus shelters have been upgraded throughout and a widened footway and shelter outside the Railway Bell pub has been introduced. The taxi rank has remained in its original position under the forecourt canopy but has a simplified access/egress arrangement. A large number of hardwood and cast aluminum seats, with backs and arm rests, were installed on the forecourt allowing it to function as genuine public space for the first time.
A small one-way traffic gyratory system was introduced to allow footways to be widened on Queens Road, the primary route to the sea front. The footways were also able to accommodate new trees, seats, cycle stands and bus shelters. Footway level loading bays were inset between the trees to allow convenient and safe servicing. A contra-flow cycle lane was installed on Queens Road to provide access to the new cycle hub in the station. Similarly, as part of the one way system, Surrey Street was reduced from two to one traffic lane to accommodate tree planting, cycle parking and loading. The loading bay was detailed in setts fashioned from the historic granite kerbs salvaged from the street.
The redesigned junction on Upper Gloucester Road allowed the north-south pedestrian crossing distance to be reduced considerably and footpaths to be widened, on this, the main route to the sea. The widened footways, with permeable gravel verges, now host tables and chairs from adjacent cafes as well as trees and cycle stands. A large semi-mature Elm tree, with a hardwood circular seat around the trunk, was planted as a centrepiece to the space.
Decorative lighting columns throughout the area were replaced with smaller, simpler and more efficient LED units. The footways were surfaced in pre-cast concrete slabs and concrete ‘Tegula’ blocks for the inset loading bays with kerbs throughout in granite. The bus stops on the forecourt were paved in a high rigidity block paver with a granite aggregate finish, engineered to withstand heavy vehicle turning movements.
