New Bus for London designs go on show

The 27 prize-winning designs for the New Bus for London competition are going on display at the London Transport Museum tomorrow.

A design by Capoco (pictured) and a collaborative effort from Foster & Partners and Aston Martin were unveiled as the winners by London Mayor Boris Johnson last December.

These designs will be on show, along with up to 50 further designs which didn’t win prizes in the competition, such as the Bath Bus, which combines classic Routemaster styling with a spa on the top deck.

Johnson and Transport for London had come under fire from the design community for launching a public design competition for the bus, with Design Business Association chief executive Deborah Dawton saying the mayor had been ‘ill-advised’ in the move.

In launching the competition, Johnson had said, ‘I made a commitment during the election campaign to hold a competition to design a brand new bus for London, based on the much-missed Routemaster, which was an icon of the capital.’

‘London deserves a bus fit for the 21st century, and I want as many people as possible to submit their ideas.’

Speaking about the exhibition, Johnson says, ‘I highly recommend that Londoners and visitors to the capital take time to visit this incredible exhibition of ingenuity.

‘Whether winning or wacky, a terrific amount of hard work went into each design, and I believe no one visiting the display will fail to be impressed at the creative thinking shown by every entrant.’