Friday 16 Aug 2013
Chairman of Birmingham New Street station’s original design panel sees progress of station transformation story so far
- Region & Route:
Sir Bernard Zissman, Chairman of the original judging panel responsible for selecting the winning design for Birmingham New Street station’s refurbishment has visited the completed first phase of the station transformation and had a sneak preview of what is still to come for this exciting project.
Last refurbished 46 years ago, New Street station has presented an unwelcome first impression to Birmingham for many years.
The first significant milestone to change this was reached in April this year, when the first half of the new station opened to passengers.
As work now focuses to refurbish the old concourse and rebuild the old shopping centre above into a world class retail destination, Grand Central Birmingham, there was plenty to see in progress on Sir Bernard’s visit.
"It is five years since the journey to choose the design for New Street Station was started,” he said, “Being Chairman of the design panel was one of the most exciting opportunities in my public life. Having now seen at first hand how the vision and ambition of this huge development is progressing, the sheer space, the volume of steel and construction material as well as the skill of those designing and building the new station, I am really excited for the people of Birmingham who will soon have the opportunity to experience a brand new generation of travel, shopping, eating and meeting; well done to everyone."
Chris Montgomery, Network Rail project director said:
“It’s always interesting to reflect back to where we first started on this monumental project and to show Sir Bernard what we have delivered so far from the original design drawings has been a pleasure. We still have a massive task ahead, but it’s great to see the designs that were chosen by Sir Bernard and colleagues really take shape.”
When complete in 2015, the station and shopping centre above will be unrecognisable from what existed before, transformed into a world class destination in the heart of the city that the people of Birmingham can be proud of.
Notes to editors
The redevelopment of Birmingham New Street station and creation of Grand Central Birmingham shopping centre is backed by Birmingham City Council, Network Rail, Department for Transport, Centro, European Development Fund and Advantage West Midlands.
Network Rail is delivering the project alongside its delivery partner Mace and delivers:
Space to accommodate passenger growth: the new concourse will be three and a half times bigger than at present and will have natural light flood throughout the giant atrium.
Better access for all: over 30 new escalators and 15 new public lifts will make it much easier to travel between the platforms and the concourse above.
Cutting edge design: a stunning new station façade will create a new landmark building in the heart of Birmingham.
The station will remain open throughout the redevelopment. The first half of the new station concourse opened to passengers in April 2013. Work has now started to redevelop the old station. The project completes in 2015.
Grand Central Birmingham will house:
A 250,000 sq ft John Lewis shop, which will bring more than 350,000 products including fashion, furniture, homewares, beauty and the latest technology.
When John Lewis arrives, it will bring four floors of the best in fashion, home and technology into the heart of the city centre.
Grand Central will also bring over 40 new premium shops into the city, and more than 20 new cafes and restaurants.
The sort of shops which will be attracted into Grand Central Birmingham will complement those already in Bullring and Mailbox, bringing new shops and restaurants into the heart of the city and making Birmingham city centre the place to find everything you need.
Grand Central and John Lewis will also create up to 1,000 new jobs in the heart of the city centre, along with many training opportunities to help local people to become a part of this new part of the city.
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