Stockwell Bus Garage 1, London, UK - Diliff

Stockwell Garage is a large

bus garage A bus garage, also known as a bus depot, bus base or bus barn, is a facility where buses are stored and maintained. In many conurbations, bus garages are on the site of former car barns or tram sheds, where trams (streetcars) were stored, and ...

Stockwell Stockwell is a district in south west London, part of the London Borough of Lambeth, England. It is situated south of Charing Cross. Battersea, Brixton, Clapham, South Lambeth, Oval and Kennington all border Stockwell. History The na ...

, in the

London Borough of Lambeth Lambeth () is a London boroughs, London borough in South London, England, which forms part of Inner London. Its name was recorded in 1062 as ''Lambehitha'' ("landing place for lambs") and in 1255 as ''Lambeth''. The geographical centre of London ...

, which opened in April 1952. At the time of construction it was Europe's largest unsupported roof span. The garage provides of unobstructed parking space and could originally house 200 buses, required at a time when the last trams were being replaced by buses. On a cursory view of the exterior, the bus garage is typical of much of the architecture built in the post war reconstruction period in London around the

Festival of Britain The Festival of Britain was a national exhibition and fair that reached millions of visitors throughout the United Kingdom in the summer of 1951. Historian Kenneth O. Morgan says the Festival was a "triumphant success" during which people: ...

. There was a steel shortage at the time, so concrete was used for the roof structure instead of the steel

girder A girder () is a support beam used in construction. It is the main horizontal support of a structure which supports smaller beams. Girders often have an I-beam cross section composed of two load-bearing ''flanges'' separated by a stabilizing ' ...

structure that had previously been the norm. At Stockwell, the opportunity was taken to create a bravura piece of reinforced concrete design, building on a formerly residential site cleared by

the Blitz The Blitz was a German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom in 1940 and 1941, during the Second World War. The term was first used by the British press and originated from the term , the German word meaning 'lightning war'. The Germa ...

. It is a few hundred metres to the northwest of

Stockwell Underground station Stockwell is a London Underground station in Stockwell in the London Borough of Lambeth. It is located on the Northern line between Oval tube station, Oval and Clapham North tube station, Clapham North stations, and on the Victoria line between ...

. The garage was designed by

Adie, Button and Partners Adie, Button and Partners was a British firm of architects, best known for designing the Grade II* listed Stockwell Garage, a large bus depot in Stockwell, London, which opened in 1952 and is still in use. It was founded by George Adie and Fre ...

, with Thomas Bilbow, who was architect to the

London Transport Executive The London Transport Executive was the organisation responsible for public transport in Greater London, England between 1948 and 1962. In common with all London transport authorities from 1933 to 2000, the public name and operational brand of ...

, and the structural engineer from the firm of Alfred Edward Beer. The main contractor was Wilson Lovatt & Sons. The long roof structure is supported by ten very shallow "two-hinged" arched ribs. Each is deep at the centre of the arch, at the end, and spans . The gap between each pair of ribs is spanned by a cantilevered

barrel vault A barrel vault, also known as a tunnel vault, wagon vault or wagonhead vault, is an architectural element formed by the extrusion of a single curve (or pair of curves, in the case of a pointed barrel vault) along a given distance. The curves are ...

topped by large skylights. The vaults are crossed by smaller ribs to prevent torsion. Seen from the outside, the main arches are visible as outward-leaning buttresses, with a segmental curve to each bay forming a flowing roof line. The buttresses and ribs were cast in situ in sections, using the same reusable

formwork Formwork is Molding (process), molds into which concrete or similar materials are either precast concrete, precast or cast-in-place concrete, cast-in-place. In the context of concrete construction, the falsework supports the shuttering mold ...

. The bed of the

subterranean Subterranean(s) or The Subterranean(s) may refer to: * Subterranea (geography), underground structures, both natural and man-made Literature * ''Subterranean'' (novel), a 1998 novel by James Rollins * ''Subterranean Magazine'', an American fa ...

River Effra The River Effra is a former set of streams in south London, England, culverted and used mainly for storm sewerage. It had been a tributary of the Thames. Its catchment waters, where not drained to aquifer soakaways and surface water drains, ha ...

was found to pass through the site during construction, which necessitated deeper foundations for the supporting concrete buttresses. Three of the nine bays to Lansdowne Way to the north – the central bay and two end bays – have large double folding doors to permit access; other bays are glazed with twenty vertical lights. Each bay has segmental toplights with central louvres for ventilation. The gable ends are also glazed with vertical lights, with folding doors to Binfield Road to the west. The site also houses inspection pits, offices, and a canteen in one- and two-storey brick buildings filling the angle as Binfield Road turn past to the south. Since 1988 the garage has been a Grade II*

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

, reflecting its importance in post-war architectural and engineering history. It is coded "SW" by Transport for London. The writer

Will Self William Woodard Self (born 26 September 1961) is an English author, journalist, political commentator and broadcaster. He has written 11 novels, five collections of shorter fiction, three novellas and nine collections of non-fiction writing. Sel ...

has called the garage "the most important building in London". During the

privatisation of London bus services The privatisation of London bus services was the process of the transfer of operation of buses in London from public bodies to private companies. For half a century, operation of London bus services for public transport was under the direct co ...

, it was included in the sale of

London General London General is a bus company operating in Greater London. It is a subsidiary of the Go-Ahead Group and operates services under contract to Transport for London. The company is named after the London General Omnibus Company, the principal ...

to the

Go-Ahead Group The Go-Ahead Group plc is a passenger transport company based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, with operations in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Singapore, Norway and Germany. Formerly listed on the London Stock Exchange, in 2022 it was purchased ...

Bus routes operated

Several Transport for London bus routes operate from the garage, including:

References

*
1952: Stockwell Bus Garage, London
Twentieth Century Society
Engineering timeline

External links

All Aboard For Stockwell
{{coord, 51.474, -0.124, type:landmark_region:GB-LBH, display=title Bus garages in London Grade II* listed buildings in the London Borough of Lambeth Stockwell Transport architecture in London Transport in the London Borough of Lambeth History of the London Borough of Lambeth Transport infrastructure completed in 1952 1952 establishments in England