HS2’s Curzon Street

Curzon Street Station in central Birmingham has been designed to be Net Zero in operation, using a range of technologies to generate energy from renewable sources.

Delivering on HS2’s commitment to being the most sustainable high-speed railway in the world, this landmark project is an exemplar for low carbon development that can be applied to future publicly and privately funded projects.

WSP in the UK’s energy, LCA and carbon teams were central to the delivery process – specifying, guiding and constructively challenging the design.

Low carbon approaches were also made the responsibility of all architectural, design and delivery partners, not just those responsible for responding to HS2’s carbon technical standards.

Engaging, supporting and constructively, and consistently, challenging the design over a two year period demonstrated the intricate level of care and consideration needed to achieve a range of outcomes for carbon, as well as for community, climate, biodiversity, materials and waste.

Opportunities for carbon reduction and efficiencies were brought out in design workshops and the application of circular design principles. Furthermore, WSP produced a ‘Design for Deconstruction’ report to capture the intended approach to adapting and dismantling a wide variety of different elements of the station.

All of this means that low carbon opportunities approved for the station’s lifetime will reduce emissions by over 87,000t CO2e, and hence meet the 50% reduction target set. To further support these measures, a dedicated area of habitat will be planted on the Curzon Street site through the creation of 0.4ha of native woodland trees, incorporating a woodland glade that will also have a function for carbon sequestration.

The station will also be Net Zero for those assets that can be regulated, such as heating, cooling, and lighting, through the use of PVs – 2,855m2 solar panels will be located on the platform canopies - ground source heat pumps and LED lighting.

The design also worked hard to minimise the number of car parking spaces on site, and ensure that 100% of the allocated spaces are future-proofed through service ducting to accommodate expected electric vehicle charging points.

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