Madrid bus stops for Grimshaw

Madrid’s street furniture is set to take a fresh direction after a system designed by Nicholas Grimshaw & Partners helped Spanish company Cemusa win a renewal last week of its 15-year contract to supply bus shelters for the capital.

Cemusa, which like Adshel in the UK provides street furniture as an advertising medium, brought in the London architect after seeing its work at London’s Waterloo European rail terminal.

Industrial designers Eoin Billings and Duncan Jackson led the Nicholas Grimshaw & Partners team which developed the versatile family of bus shelters, advertising columns and panels. The system of components allows for the construction of a variety of sizes of bus shelters, featuring extruded aluminium beams and a cantilevered roof.

Billings hopes the designs will not only be implemented in Madrid but in other Spanish cities and regions. “By changing a couple of components, the shelters can look quite different for the very different regions in Spain.”

Billings believes Cemusa is also considering trying to break into other markets, including the UK and especially London.

Meanwhile, Nicholas Grimshaw & Partners is designing a signage system for German manufacturer Mabeg. And the architect has designed a door handle for the ongoing series commissioned from architects and product designers by German manufacturer FSB.