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Crimson double deckers are to London what the yellow cab is to New York or the cable car is to hilly San Francisco. Whether you’re hopping on the 43 on the daily or you’re more of a Superloop kind of person, there’s no denying that the big red bus is an icon of the UK capital.
But what happens to those old buses at the end of their working lives? Well, a new design project could see them transformed into mobile children’s play areas.
The Davidson Prize, an annual design competition which aims to encourage new ideas around homes and housing, has announced the three finalists for this year’s award, devised around the theme of ‘Changing the Game: Building Play into Housing’.
Playdeck, one of the projects up for the prize, aims to repurpose decommissioned Routemaster buses and turn them into mobile playgrounds. The designers behind the concept want to develop a new approach to outdoor play by placing moveable playparks on the doorsteps of housing estates.
Each bus is decked out with playblocks which fit together like puzzle pieces that can be rearranged into different play scenarios, making them perfect for climbing, jumping and imaginary games.
Plus, the Playdeck project also makes use of the New Routemaster buses, aka ‘Boris Buses’, which are currently being phased out in favour of fully electric and hydrogen buses. The New Bus For London (NB4L) was launched in 2012 by then London Mayor Boris Johnson, costing the city £350 million. But after just 12 years on the road, it was announced that they would be replaced by a more eco-friendly fleet under current Mayor Sadiq Khan’s plan to have all of London’s 8,600 buses powered by batteries or hydrogen by 2030.
The Davidson Prize will award the winning design team £10,000 to bring their concept to life. We’ll have to wait until June 30 to see whether the Playdeck concept gets the green light. It’s up against a community-led toolkit for play which can be adapted to fit the needs of individual neighbourhoods and a project which aims to transform buildings’ second staircases into safe play areas for kids.
Did you see that a full-size replica 500-year-old ship will dock in London this summer?
Plus: the long-awaited London Museum has finally revealed its opening date.
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