(Source: via Fast Company)

Image Courtesy: Bustler

Image Courtesy: Bustler

Image Courtesy: Bustler

At the first glimpse, it looks like an awkwardly shaped UFO.. Oh, but it is not! This is the futuristic bus stop proposed for the humble English town of Stoke-o-Trent, which wants to build a new city bus station.  Now, for those of us who are used to conjuring up images of a bus stop – the quintessential dingy floors, chaotic bus parking bays, bums hanging around the corner, etc..- this comes as a sweet shocker, this one by designer team Austin Smith Lord would create what is surely the world’s most futuristic bus depot.  These images show bus stops doesn’t have to be ugly and creepy – they can be functional while looking stunningly beautiful.

Austin Smith Lord was the people’s choice winner against stiff competition, which included Wilkinson Eyre and Zaha Hadid. (The winner was a plan by Grimshaw Architects.) Though the Austin Smith Lord design concept looks bizzare, it is moored to a brilliant logic: The main performance feature is a flowing layout that allows buses to enter and exit without ever having to back out of a parking space.

Loving the Brits for encouraging such outta the box concept design.

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