Wolverhampton Station
Sectors
Services
Client
British Railways
Project overview
The BB7 team worked with the client throughout RIBA stages 2-6. The team carried out a holistic review of the development, meeting the entire design team on a regular basis and obtaining approval to meet the fire regulations. In order to do so, BB7 provided a number of railway fire codes, including:
Guidance for Fire Precautions on Existing British Rail Surface Stations.
Railway Safety Principles and Guidance, Part 2, Section B, Guidance on Stations.
RIS-7700-INS.
RIS-7701-INS.
RIS-7702-INS.
Station Capacity Planning Guidance – Network Rail.
Station Capacity Assessment Guidance – Network Rail.
Project Scope
Wolverhampton Station is a part of a £150million scheme to build a bus, cycle and train interchange in Wolverhampton. The site consists of state-of-the-art facilities, including six ticket vending machines, new British Transport Police facilities, toilets, accessibility and baby changing facilities, rental units and a customer lounge. The construction process was split into three phases; with the station being ergonomically designed for ease of transportation with a fully integrated transport hub with diverse connectivity options. The new station has ensured Midland Metro Alliance (MMA) have connected Wolverhampton city centre to the transport hubs and has enabled the completion of the final city centre Metro extension to the station plaza.
The BB7 response
The team were able to work with the client to achieve compliance with building regulations, while still pushing boundaries in terms of design. Challenges arose with regard to existing platforms and walkovers due to their age; BB7 were able to demonstrate that the existing platforms and the new exits were satisfactory for means of escape. Furthermore, the station was opened in three phases, subsequently, the team had to mitigate the challenges of hand over between stages. BB7 were able to effectively manage this risk and
produce the required results for the client.
Benefits of service
BB7 were appointed at the pre-construction stage (RIBA Stage 2) of the project, which meant we were able to review the scheme during the infancy of the design. There are many real benefits to being brought in at an early stage, including quality, efficiency, safety and speed. The team were able to work
with the client to achieve compliance with building regulations, while still pushing boundaries in terms of design.