Pic Civ Future Railway Station

“What new civic function might a rail transportation hub play in the next 10-25 years?” This was the challenge set by Future Cities Catapult

One thing about the future that we don’t see changing anytime soon is our basic human need for a sense of belonging and place. People want to understand where they are in the world and to see that their destination is different from their starting point. Currently, it is difficult for travelers to differentiate when they step off of a train, because stations do not reflect the local culture or identity of their city.

Our future station seeks to bring travelers a sense of place and locals a sense of pride by replacing corporate chains with local businesses and bringing back the flavor of the city. Piccadilly Civic Station is a different type of station that incubates and supports the growth of local businesses like artisans, crafters, and makers by providing low-cost space. PicCiv also helps to support these small businesses by providing them with local data, which help businesses keep up with the fast paced environment of a train station. The local data become accessible and actionable for small business owners with the DataLens platform. This user friendly platform takes data from passengers and shoppers and compiles it into simple to understand and actionable ways for businesses to provide relevant service for their patrons.

Customers will experience sense of place and optimised services in stations by interacting with small businesses, while local businesses will receive the space and support from the station. The station will become a strong representative of the city identity and a larger percent of money spent will go back into the community.

The project was showcased in a event at Urban Innovation Centre. London, UK that brought together people from across rail, engineering and design fields, such as Network Rail, Arup, and Atkins Rail Delivery Group. The event brought together Declan McCafferty, Partner at Grimshaw Architects, Tim Chapman, Director at Arup, Mike Goggin, Director at Steer Davies Gleave, and Lauren Currie, Programme Leader at Hyper Island to discuss new customer experiences in stations.

Team: 
Chloe Eunsung Kim, Dessy Chongarova, Jonny Howle, Ligia Oliveira, Maggie Peterson, Soraya Cadelli, Tiago Varandas