The last days of the Belconnen Bus Interchange

farnarkler said :

Wasn’t the old interchange a reversed copy of a US design?

That’s correct, though not entirely reversed. The NCDC retained some of the left hand drive elements, creating a contra-flow system that they claimed was a safety measure, but which some accused was a stuff up.

farnarkler said :

Wasn’t the old interchange a reversed copy of a US design? From the windows of wing 1 Cameron Offices we saw some funny things in the interchange; an ACTION driver, tarred, feathered and tied up to a column during the school rush hour and, on another occasion, an old man driving a mobility scooter towing a trailer with his wife in the trailer.

At least they were creative about abusing drivers back then!

Wasn’t the old interchange a reversed copy of a US design? From the windows of wing 1 Cameron Offices we saw some funny things in the interchange; an ACTION driver, tarred, feathered and tied up to a column during the school rush hour and, on another occasion, an old man driving a mobility scooter towing a trailer with his wife in the trailer.

Great little film, should be more of them documenting Canberra. Time goes real quick. You blink and its gone. Shame we dont have more of Canberra’ s history documented in this way.

random said :

johnboy said :

I think belconnen bus users still miss it compared to what replaced it?

Hardly anyone uses the “community bus station” in the location of the old one, but the new interchange at Belconnen Mall is fantastic. Very convenient to pop into the supermarket to pick up some milk or bread or whatever on the way home, much more convenient to have 2 platforms than 10, and can sit inside and/or get a coffee if you have a long wait.

I was initially skeptical but now I think it was a really great move.

I agree, but if the inside section is intended to be some type of waiting area, I really hope that they install one of the new electronic signs inside. At the moment there is no timetable at all inside – perhaps Westfield don’t want it in there? Given that a lot of the time, the platforms will be empty, before 5 buses all turn up together, it’s sometimes hard to see what’s arriving, making sitting inside a bit of a dodgy proposition.

Even with its faults, I’d take the new arrangement 10 times over the old interchange.

Holden Caulfield said :

Onceler said :

I really like brutalist architecture. I think it gets a bad rap for no good reason. The term ‘brutalism’ is an unfortunate one though… but apparently it is derived from the French béton brut, or ‘raw concrete’.

I agree. The NGA is one of my favourite buildings in Canberra.

I’m afraid I can’t agree with you on that. Brutalism can be very attractive and practical, and over the past 10 years or so it’s come back to an extent (not so much for style reasons as for practicality of construction). National Gallery was a design gone wrong, meanwhile the High Court (designed by the same firm but some personnel differences) got it right. Presence, meaning and in tune with the environment, the exact opposite of the NGA until the refurb.

What a shame the unique buildings in Belconnen that once graced Benjamin Way (and Chandler St) have slowly been demolished. What’s wrong with refurbishing the exteriors? Thanks to all who don’t appreciate the architecture we will have nothing but cold, generic, glassy grey buildings and Belconnen Town Centre will look nothing different to anywhere else. The only thing wrong with the previous interchange and associated walkways is a good old fashioned high pressure clean and a replacement of perspex paneling were required.

I’m pretty sure the only people that use it’s replacement (I use that term loosely) are Uni students. Everyone else just goes to the Westfield one because it’s far more convenient.

Honestly, they may as well have put a regular road in it’s place.

random said :

johnboy said :

I think belconnen bus users still miss it compared to what replaced it?

Hardly anyone uses the “community bus station” in the location of the old one, but the new interchange at Belconnen Mall is fantastic. Very convenient to pop into the supermarket to pick up some milk or bread or whatever on the way home, much more convenient to have 2 platforms than 10, and can sit inside and/or get a coffee if you have a long wait.

I was initially skeptical but now I think it was a really great move.

Sounds like it’s working ok then. Not having ever used it, I shouldn’t have criticised. My bad.

banco said :

God that place was a hole. Like Eastern bloc architecture.

Don’t knock the eastern bloc! The Soviets did some amazing stuff; really adventurous designs. Get a hold of this book if you can:

http://www.taschen.com/pages/en/catalogue/photography/all/05744/facts.frederic_chaubin_cosmic_communist_constructions_photographed.htm

http://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/feb/27/cosmic-communist-constructions-frederic-chaubin

And from what I’ve heard, the new Belco Bus interchange is pretty bad: designed to meet Westfield’s needs rather than those of bus commuters.