Is it the end of an era for Vauxhall’s solar icon?

Plans are afoot to demolish Vauxhall Bus Station, an iconic landmark modern building and one of Solarcentury’s first bold, commercial solar projects. It was opened in 2004 by the then-mayor Ken Livingstone. Retail sites will be built in place of the Bus Station.

For the last ten years, the 32.4 kWp solar installation comprising 168 modules has been quietly generating roughly 25,000 units of electricity every year, enough to make 2,500 cups of tea per day. Solarcentury was selected for the installation because of its unique building-integrated PV expertise.

Suzanna Lashford, Head of UK Commercial Sales at Solarcentury, comments, “TfL made a bold statement investing in PV at the bus depot back in 2004 and the site has become an iconic part of SE1. We hope TfL will continue to invest in solar across London and consider installing solar on the new buildings at the Bus Station.

We designed this solar system over 10 years ago. At the time, it was the first high-profile example of solar used as a major architectural feature in London. Since then, not only has it become recognised as a part of the landscape of the Vauxhall area, we have also seen a string of outstanding uses of solar across the capital including Blackfriars Bridge, fire stations, police stations, schools and offices.”

“We Love Vauxhall Bus Station” and the “Twentieth Century Society” are both working to protect the Bus Station and get it listed status. Applications have been made to English Heritage with part of the justification being: “It was an early example of a building with solar photovoltaic cells fully integrated into its design rather than installed afterwards, adding to its importance.”

More information can be read about this here.