Preston Coach Station
- Jakob Schoof
After its opening in 1969, the coach station in the city of Preston, northern England, resembled a large concrete island in a sea of asphalt. Eighty bus platforms were lined up on each side of the 190-metre-long structure, which had been created by Building Design Partnership and Ove Arup and Partners. The adjoining open area to the west served as parking space for buses. Passengers crossed this area via pedestrian routes that were provisionally cordoned off, after the original underpasses did not find acceptance with the public. To this day, the four upper floors and the roof of the building provide parking space for 1,100 vehicles in a split-level arrangement. Via two curved bridges, cars have direct access from the road to the first floor level and back again outside.
