Having opened well in advance of the imminent 2022 Commonwealth Games, Perry Barr Station stands at the heart of a rapidly changing wider Perry Barr re-development and will be a crucial gateway for visitors to Alexander Stadium for the Commonwealth Games, starting later this week.

The station redevelopment is part of a wider £700m+ regeneration of the Perry Barr area, led by Birmingham City Council. It also includes a new road layout, thousands of new homes and the development of a brand-new bus interchange outside the One Stop Shopping Centre.

More about the project:

The station has improved accessibility with new lifts and stairs providing access from the new concourse at road level down to platform level. The concourse is staffed for ticketing and fares and facilities such as a toilet and baby changing room are provided as part of a new internal accommodation block within the concourse.

The public realm between the railway station, bus interchange and local shops is also being redeveloped to provide an inviting space for station and bus users.

Waldeck were the Lead Design Organisation providing full multi-disciplinary services for Galliford Try who are the Principal Contractor on the project.

Our team were the Lead Designer responsible for managing the completion of outstanding GRIP 3 design and then continuing the design through to construction approval. We provided support to Galliford Try during the construction stages and assisted them in the delivery of the station opening 2 months prior to the Commonwealth Games.

Waldeck’s involvement:

Waldeck were appointed by Galliford Try to carry out the following services:

  • Architecture & Design
  • Civil and Structural Engineering
  • Mechanical & Electrical Building Services Design
  • Principal Designer
  • Digital Surveying

Our team also managed third party services including:

  • Fire Engineering
  • Acoustics
  • Station Security and Information Systems
  • Earthing & Bonding
  • Site investigations, CCTV, Jetting & Underground Services Surveys

Achievements and results:

Waldeck led the multi-disciplinary team for this complex project which included a range of infrastructure interfaces and complex stakeholder engagement.

Some highlights for our team were:

  • Coordinated delivery with the adjacent bus interchange scheme to deliver a new fully accessible urban realm area, connecting the rail station to the bus station and the wider redevelopment areas.
  • The scheme followed Network Rail’s GRIP process which provided design assurance through the project evolution and has captured the development of the project when we took it on midway through GRIP stage 3.
  • The station included fully accessible platforms, toilet and ticketing facilities; comprising of lifts, tactile wayfinding and contrasting furniture.
  • The economic design of the new station has included significant value engineering, utilising a hybrid lightweight SFS system, as well as the modifying of the cladding design through the specification of new systems and a redesign of the access strategy.
  • We have continued our strong working relationship with our sub-contractors and have also been involved in the introduction of a new SISS system that is being implemented by WMCA with the expectation to include this in their future station developments also.

Maria Machancoses, CEO of Midlands Connect, said:

“This transformative scheme will boost east-west connectivity, creating millions more train seats and faster, more frequent links for passengers across the Midlands region.”

All images Copyright Paul Arthur Photography.