Leicester’s St Margaret’s bus station has reopened after a major project to refurbish the facility and turn it into a net zero carbon station. The building was almost completely demolished and stripped back to its partial steelwork frame, which was reused in line with the eco standards of the project. By reusing major elements of the previous building and retaining and repairing the existing concrete on the main area for bus arrivals and departures, the ‘embodied’ carbon cost of constructing the new building was reduced by an equivalent of over 575 tonnes.
The station has been completely redesigned with a more spacious internal layout, better seating, a new café, modern toilets and real-time digital passenger information. It also provides increased capacity for national and regional services with 24 available bays.
The new building features a glazed concourse to maximise natural lighting and cut energy consumption and a curved aluminium roof where a solar farm of 390 photovoltaic panels will generate clean, green power. The building has an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) with the highest possible rating of A+ and will operate as a fully net zero carbon building.
Electric bus charging points have been installed and the new building will offer secure storage for up to 100 bicycles, as well as being the latest location for a docking station as part of the city’s new e-bike share scheme. Improvements to surrounding footpaths and roads have also been undertaken, including work to help strengthen and improve links between key development sites and the city centre, including the new Savoy Street which will provide a direct pedestrian route between the city’s St Margaret’s and Haymarket bus stations.
