Salford Station should have been serving more of central Manchester that any of its rivals based on location, but no. It was avoided by passengers, hardly used in comparison, not even known by many. With no street presence, poor lighting, poor disabled access, and fraught access generally, it was a station in neglect. Our brief was to change that.

We approached the project from a broader, masterplanning context. As the city centre, through the Spinningfields development, expanded to meet it, we could show the station’s value from a regeneration standpoint and were able to help our client GMPTE benefit from £1.5m funding from the European Regional Development Fund: a significant proportion of the overall £5m budget.

The initial work claimed a well-lit beacon-style presence at street level by encasing a large area in a glass foyer, currently serving to take the pressure off the upper floor, later to house the ticket office. The access has been transformed for the disabled, including a new ticket counter and toilet; with the general access widened, congestion is reduced. Greater use means the station opens later at night. Regeneration is taking place already adjacent to the station, which in turn will justify further phases of work. The positive spiral has begun.

It is extraordinary to think that if one were to draw an imaginary circle with a circumference of 1km around Manchester’s main stations, Salford would in fact serve more people than any other. But it doesn’t. Far from it. In fact people would rather use other stations and walk further than choose to come here. Salford was most definitely the poor relation, neglected by the public.

Some weren’t coming because they don’t know about it. So poorly signposted was it, with so little street frontage or presence, people weren’t aware of its existence, or even if they did, they would struggle to pinpoint it when asked. Others weren’t coming because they didn’t feel safe. It was not felt to be a place for women, children or the elderly, and use fell away dramatically after mid afternoon. By 7pm it was closed. The disabled were very poorly served, with no counter, no toilet facilities and very uncomfortable or prohibitive access: so they would avoid it too. Others didn’t come purely to avoid the hassle. An entrance just 1.8 metres wide meant exactly that: bottlenecks and jostling. No space to get your bearings. The queue clashing with the entrance. All in all, something of a disaster.

Our brief was to change all that. Bringing masterplanning, landscape design, urban realm design and architectural expertise to the table allowed us to approach the problem from a broader standpoint, focusing on the station’s ability to drive regeneration in the area. Working with Salford City Council, Network Rail and Gleeds, we were able to prove that the long-term benefit in terms of regeneration would outweigh the cost of the works themselves, and on the strength of this we were able to help our client GMPTE benefit from £1.5m funding from the European Regional Development Fund, a significant proportion of the overall £5m budget.

The first step was to establish a presence in the area, and this meant reclaiming and ‘owning’ significant space at street level – before the station was only to be found up a narrow flight of stairs on the platform level above. The street itself ran under the Grade II* listed viaduct, but the station was virtually invisible: out of sight, out of mind. Not now. A lay-by beneath the bridges has been enclosed by glass to make a striking foyer area. The transparency and high level of lighting transforms the sense of security, and acts as a clear beacon. The new space takes a lot of pressure from the compressed upper entrance, giving people time to gather and orientate themselves, meet, check train times on the monitors, and so on. As footfall and regeneration increases – and it is and will (a significant redevelopment is already in progress adjacent to the station) – then the next phases of the masterplan will begin, allowing the relocation of the ticket office downstairs, and the opening of a café and shop.

The pressure on the badly organised upper level is further relieved by widening its entranceway from 1.8 metres to four, avoiding the bottlenecks and jostling suffered previously. The most significant improvement in terms of access, however, has been for the disabled. Ramps and lifts to a completely new concourse and entrance area, clear signage and tactile paviours to assist with way finding, and a new disabled ticket counter and disabled toilet have transformed the passenger experience.

Austin-Smith:Lord has also delivered phase two works at the station, which involves an improvements design and phasing review, but masterplanning is being considered up to three decades ahead, to include the return of platforms taken out in the last century, reconverting the station from a two to six-platform capacity, and hence opening the possibility of reopening long-closed lines to places such as Liverpool. Other plans include development of the arches running perpendicular to the station entrance for use as cafés and bars. Footfall is increasing, and the opening of the station has been extended long beyond the previous watershed of 7pm: currently it is still in use past 10pm.