Kalwall shelters West Croydon bus station

It is expected that around eight million people a year will shelter under Kalwall at the new bus station at West Croyden. Transport for London Architects designed the project, which exemplifies how Kalwall can offer many different advantages above its normal use for translucent traditional building cladding and roof lighting.

The aim of the project was to create a user-friendly waiting and assumably shelter, servicing thousands of passengers using the busy transport hub linking the 150 buses an hour with the adjacent tram stop and West Croydon railway station, providing routes to Canada Water and east London.

Typically, for a translucent and weatherproof canopy, the roof would be glad with glass. However, Martin Eriksson, in-house architect and the project team at TfL decided to use Kalwall as it would offer a variety of benefits over traditional glazing.

Kalwall is much lighter than glass, meaning that the supporting structure did not need to be as strong and chunky, and the vertical supports would deb less obstructive of the environment and open up a better view. Additionally, highly insulating Kalwall is far more attractive than glass and eliminates shadows and glare.

Furthermore, it controls light pollution on the surrounding high rise buildings due to the way it diffuses natural daylight downwards and at night reduced vertical illumination and reflection upwards. Access to scaffolding is not required and maintenance staff can safely walk across its surface, therefore making maintenance and cleaning much simpler, although soil and detritus are less obvious on Kalwall than on glass.

Rooms are flooded with diffused natural daylight, internally, creating a stimulating and attractive environment. It also offers the advantage of privacy and when illuminated at night they emit an ethereal glow.

Kalwall is specified for all types of new build and is increasingly used for the refurbishment of cladding or roof lights on aged buildings