With its distinctive huge, curved sweeping roof, Stoke-on-Trent bus station recently opened – a significant step in the city’s redevelopment plan. Architect Grimshaw’s wave-like roof curves both in plan and elevation and required complex double-curved Kalzip XT aluminium standing seam sheets. The firm also supplied flashings, bonded panels, fascia soffits and rainscreen panels. While the roof rises and falls in response to the entrances and passenger facilities, it’s lined with a warm and welcoming timber soffit. There’s also extensive use of local Staffordshire blue brick and Carlow limestone flooring – a metaphor, apparently, for the underlying coal seams and clay that drove the area’s growth.