It has been announced that Laing O’Rourke Delivery Limited will build the new HS2 Solihull Interchange Station, bringing 30,000 new jobs to the West Midlands economy
The £370m contract will see Laing O’Rourke work with HS2 in two stages to finalise the detailed design and then build the landmark HS2 Solihull Interchange station over the next few years. Contracts will be signed after the completion of the standstill period.
The extensive growth plans around the site are being led by the Urban Growth Company and will support 30,000 jobs, up to 3,000 new homes and 70,000m2 of commercial space. These will form part of the UK Central Hub area plans for 70,000 jobs, 5,000 new homes and 650,000m2 of commercial space, generating £6.2bn GVA per year and bringing 1.3m people to within a 45-minute public transport commute of the station.
Substantial progress has already been made on the 150-hectare site, including the construction of modular bridges over the M42 and A446 as part of a remodelled road network in the area to facilitate access to the new station.
The station will be one of the best-connected in the UK, with up to five trains per hour passing through the station in both directions, with an estimated total of 175,000 seats per day.
HS2’s Main Works Contractor Balfour Beatty VINCI are currently preparing the site where the new station will be built.
The station is the first railway station globally to achieve the BREEAM ‘Outstanding’ certification at the design stage – a measure of sustainability for new and refurbished buildings – putting it in the top 1% of buildings in the UK for eco-friendly credentials.
This recognises the station’s eco-friendly features including maximising ventilation and natural daylight, a station roof design which can capture and reuse rainwater, and features to enable net zero carbon emissions from day-to-day energy consumption. Energy efficient technology will also be incorporated, such as air source heat pumps and LED lighting.
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