Northampton bus station was built in the early 1970s and has now been demolished. View the drama here… It was described as part of Brutalist architecture – a most apt description.
It was always an architectural abomination – dark, over powering and described as brutal. For anyone who went into the bus station to catch a bus or just to use the toilets it was awful. There isn’t a good word that can be said about it and I guess most people are pleased that it has now gone from the centre of the town. Despite this there was a group who tried to save the building but my guess is they didn’t live in Northampton and never got on a bus from the oppressive place. Troglodytes will miss it.
It was a truly horrible building, glad it went out with a bang.
Trouble is Steve, what they have replaced it with is not fit for purpose. Chaos reigns inside the new bus station and in Bradshaw Street and if you live in Duston, you have to catch a bus from The Drapery with no shelter from the elements except an inadequate bus shelter that is always full and overflowing, the queue stretches down the road. I suppose the only plus is that you can window shop in Debenhams while you freeze and get soaked! I’m one of the idiots who thinks a revamp of the old building would have been a better option. All the problems could have been sorted if they’d thrown a few million at it! Judy.
Yes, I know you’re right and it’s a pity that architects and designers find it impossible to combine functionality and beauty. Wouldn’t it have been better if they had set up a temporary bus station with the intention of building a light, airy and practical terminus on the existing site? Better still how about constructing the bus station on the station site?
And what about the new railway station? A flight of steps to get into the station and then steps down onto the platform with a separate entrance for the disabled – doh?
Still the demolition brought some excitement to the town.