Detailed designs signal next step in £350m regeneration project

DETAILED new designs for the first part of a major regeneration programme for Stoke city centre will go on display today and tomorrow.

London-based architects Grimshaw has been working on the city’s new £15m bus station in Hanley since the company was picked from a final shortlist of six in June.

Its final designs (below) have been reworked after hearing feedback from residents during a public exhibition of plans by all of the shortlisted firms in May.

The bus station rebuild is the first stage in an ambitious £350m retail regeneration project for Stoke which includes a complete refurbishment of the former East West shopping centre.

Grimshaw is the practice behind the Eden Project and the Eurostar terminal in London.

Any last comments received during the two-day exhibition will be fed into the final planning application before it is submitted to Stoke City Council.

The new city bus station will be built on the current John Street surface car park.

A planning application is due to be submitted by the end of the year with work starting on site at the end of March next year.

The East West redevelopment by Realis Estates aims to transform the site of the East West Centre to create a 750,000 sq ft high quality regional shopping centre that will include a department store, shops, cafés, a multi-screen cinema, hotel and improved parking.