London buses
The familiar face of a London bus will soon be less familiar. British designer Thomas Heatherwick has designed the replacement for London’s iconic Routemaster bus, in collaboration with bus company the Wright Group. The new design is set to hit the London streets in 2012.
It will be made of lightweight materials, with glass highlighting key features, that will produce a light and airy feel inside the bus. Visually dramatic, it will be asymmetric and features a glass ‘swoop’ at the rear and along its side.
In addition to its futuristic looking, flashy exterior the bus will use the latest green technology and will be 15 per cent more fuel efficient than existing hybrid buses, and 40 per cent more efficient than conventional diesel double decks and much quieter on the streets.
Its defining feature is the open platform, inspired by the Routemaster of old, which allows the reinstatement of a hop-on, hop-off service, speedy boarding will also be aided by three doors and two staircases.
A a static mock up of the bus is currently being worked on and we will probably get a glimpse of it later this year, but we’ll have to wait until late next year to see a full working prototype.
(via Dezeen)