Starting gun fired for HS2 stations

The search for construction teams to build the new HS2 stations at Euston and Old Oak Common has begun.

The news comes after the announcement that leading practices such as Rogers Stirk Harbour, Foster and Grimshaw were in the running to design the stations.

Client HS2 Ltd said it expected bidders for both London projects, which have a combined pricetag of £3bn, would be invited to tender by the end of the year, with contract award in autumn 2018.

It added that “market engagement” for the Birmingham Curzon Street and Birmingham Interchange stations had started as well, with the procurement process for these jobs set to begin early next year with contract award in 2020.

The successful bidders for the two London stations will work alongside HS2 Ltd and its designers, acting as “construction partners”, responsible for programme management as well as supply chain procurement, integration and management.

The short-listed engineer-led design teams were announced last month.

Arup is bidding with Grimshaw for the two London stations and with Wilkinson Eyre for the two in Birmingham.

WSP is bidding with Wilkinson Eyre and Chapman Taylor in London and with Grimshaw in the Midlands.

Foster & Partners and Arcadis are bidding Euston and Birmingham Interchange.

RSHP and Weston Williamson in a team led by Mott MacDonald are contesting Old Oak Common and Birmingham Curzon Street.

A team featuring Jacobs, BuroHappold and Idom are bidding the two Birmingham stations.

HS2 Ltd chief executive Mark Thurston said: “Launching this competition [for construction teams] is another major milestone for HS2. Over the next decade, the successful bidders will go on to build two of the most challenging and high-profile elements of the project; a brand new transport hub at Old Oak Common that will kick-start the regeneration of the site plus a major expansion of Euston.”

The scheme at Euston is being designed by Grimshaw and will cost £1.65bn with 11 new platforms built in two phases, nearly tripling capacity. Almost 4,000 new homes are earmarked for the mixed-use development on the site.

At Old Oak Common, a new £1.3bn transport hub will be constructed, with the surrounding area redeveloped by the Mayor of London’s Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation, which aims to build 25,500 new homes.

The construction workforce for the two London stations will peak at around 4,000 during the build programme.

The four HS2 stations are scheduled for completion in 2026.