Located within and adjacent to St Helens' conservation areas, the new Interchange buildings have been designed to reflect the materials, craftsmanship and architectural detailing of some of the borough's most recognisable heritage assets.
The design draws on landmarks including the Gamble Building, St Mary’s Church, Holy Cross and Saint Helen Catholic Church and the traditional terraced properties of Hall Street. Rather than the grey metallic finishes typically associated with transport infrastructure, the design team selected a bespoke palette of red and buff brickwork, decorative bonding patterns and glazed masonry to reflect the town's brickmaking and manufacturing heritage.
The Northern Pod features red brickwork and decorative brick detailing influenced by the red brick tones and craftsmanship found across St Helens town centre. The Southern Pod uses buff brickwork laid in a distinctive basket weave pattern, inspired by the decorative masonry of the nearby Gamble Building, giving the building texture and depth. Its defining feature is a band of green glazed brick, chosen to complement the interchange's glazing, soffits and landmark Y-shaped steel columns.
The two pods will provide important facilities at the heart of the interchange. The Southern Pod will house the new Merseytravel Travel Centre, providing passenger information, ticketing and customer services. The Northern Pod will accommodate driver welfare facilities, public toilets and a fully accessible Changing Places facility, ensuring the interchange provides a welcoming and inclusive experience for all users.
Matt Whiteley, senior development manager for ECF, a partnership of Homes England's National Housing Bank, L&G and Muse, said: “It’s a big moment to see the pod buildings taking shape, both for the Interchange and for our wider work to regenerate St Helens town centre. From the outset we didn’t want this to look like any other transport building, so the design team spent time looking at the town's own architecture and its brickmaking history. The result is a building that people will notice when they arrive in St Helens. It also sets the standard of quality we want to see across the rest of the town centre as the regeneration moves forward.”
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