Worcester Shrub Hill
Project Overview
Worcestershire County Council (WCC) commissioned us to lead the development of a masterplan for Worcester Shrub Hill station, a Grade II listed building located to the east of the city centre at the heart of Shrub Hill Quarter. The key aims of the masterplan included creating a connected, safe, and accessible station that would provide a gateway to the City of Worcester while restoring and enhancing the Grade II listed building, including its disused undercroft, and supporting wider regeneration around the station.
The station redevelopment is a key part of several strategic plans including the Worcester City Council Masterplan (2019), Worcestershire Rail Investment Plan 2022, South Worcestershire Development Plan (2016), Local Transport Plan 4 (2018-2030), and contemporaneously forms a key element within the city’s Shrub Hill Quarter development.
Services provided:
Project and programme management – working with the railway industry processes and managing stakeholders and delivery of the masterplan.
Engineering – leading requirements management process and surveys, overall design development including CDM Principal Designer role, with specialist input from our supply chain partners to develop concepts into a preferred option.
Property – land ownership and rail regulatory review and production of land and consents strategy.
Planning – development of planning strategy, engagement with Local Planning Authority and Conservation Officer for Listed Building Consent
Commercial – commercial management of design sub-consultants and Network Rail and provision of scheme capital cost estimates.
Financial – funding options appraisal and funding bid submissions,
Integration and coordination – ensuring the station masterplan fitted with the wider Shrub Hill Quarter regeneration plans.
What we did
We produced the Worcester Shrub Hill Station Masterplan, a plan for the redevelopment of the station acting as a catalyst for growth and regeneration of the wider area, with a Strategic Outline Business Case (SOBC) subsequently completed in 2019. This led to WCC’s strategic acquisition of land adjacent to the station in order to realise a tangible development of the Shrub Hill Quarter in Worcester.
Following COVID, in 2021-22, we were commissioned as project management and design lead for the next project stage, developing the masterplan from initial concept ideas to a single preferred option (Network Rail’s PACE Stage 1). We applied the principles of PACE and progressive optioneering and assurance to enable efficient project delivery. This was particularly important given the variety of site constraints and range of stakeholder requirements which had to be considered. Our agility and strong collaboration between various teams and our supply chain enabled the project team to respond quickly to developments in requirements.
The outputs of the masterplan studies were captured in a Preferred Option Scoping Report (POSR). This SLC-developed product outlines the scope of the proposed single option for further detailed design development. The proposed improvement to station aesthetics, accessibility, and passenger facilities will complement the wider public investment to regenerate adjacent sites in the Shrub Hill Quarter.
Commissioned to undertake Levelling Up Fund bid submission, we considered all elements of the scheme business case, demonstrating alignment with the principles of levelling up and an updated economic appraisal to assure the viability of the scheme.
Additionally, the team engaged with the Planning Authority with detailed pre-application consultation for the station proposals and development of the Supplementary Planning Document for the Shrub Hill Quarter to embed the area’s holistic masterplan into policy.
