BALSALL Common’s preferred design option for the HS2 viaduct has been revealed.
HS2 announced the polished parapet came out on top in a vote following a series of public meetings and online engagement in January.
The high speed rail company said a majority of 73 per cent of the 203 people that voted chose a highly polished parapet.
Of those voting for the polished parapet, 47 per cent chose the full length pattern, against 26 per cent that voted for the pattern over Station Road only.
The green-coloured parapet came in as the third preferred option with 19 per cent of votes.
It added a majority of 55 per cent chose the Weave pattern for the viaduct, compared with 17 per cent for a Ram’s Horn motif, 12 per cent for Brick, 10 per cent for a pattern making reference to the Forest of Arden and six per cent indicated no preference.
On landscape options, HS2 said 59 per cent of people voted for additional woodland, compared with 28 per cent for marshland, 10 per cent for conserving the landscape character and three per cent indicated no preference.
The feedback from the events, along with the voting, indicated a clear preference for the options put forward by HS2 through the planning process and recommended for approval by Solihull Council planning officers.
Christoph Brintrup, HS2’s head of landscape said: “We’d like to thank people in Balsall Common for choosing the design details for this landmark viaduct and surrounding landscape in the West Midlands. We’re pleased that there were clear winners for all three elements, and that this was in line with our original proposals to the Council.
“As with all our key structures on HS2, we’ve involved the community at all stages of the design to ensure we get the best result for everyone, and over the last two years this commitment to inclusive design has helped us refine the appearance of the viaduct structure and its sensitive integration into its environment and community context.”
The viaduct is being built by HS2’s main works contractor, Balfour Beatty VINCI (BBV), supported by a Design Joint Venture of Mott MacDonald and SYSTRA together with architects Weston Williamson + Partners.
