•             Hubs in the UK as Global Gateways

•             City Centre Hubs

•             Community and Rural Hubs

•             Where next?

FOSD recently kicked off proceedings in the build up to their 2012 Conference by holding an sophisticated evening at the stunning St Pancras Champagne Bar. The evening saw influential industry individuals as well as those who wanted to learn more about FOSD gather to learn about the key themes that will shape the 2012 Conference.

The key areas that the 2012 Conference will concentrate on will be way-finding, passenger-flow, safety and station support, planning and station design, and attention to retail, all connecting to the overall passenger experience.

The launch, which was sponsored by engineering giant Garrandale, a company that for over 40 years has provided innovative and cost effective engineering solutions throughout the UK, was considered to be a huge success, prompting great excitement and anticipation for the conference which will be named ‘A Question of Congestion.’

The location and date for the 2012 Conference was announced at the launch event to be held at London’s Excel venue on the 25th May, 2012.

Event Director, Bill Murray, expressed his own enthusiasm towards the show by saying: “In bringing together a truly outstanding collection of personalities and points of interest, FOSD has clearly indicated its intentions to learn from the industry as well as create the basis for interesting and successful debate and I am incredibly proud of what we have achieved.”

The second Future of Station Design conference took place on Monday 16th May at the German Gymnasium Kings Cross, wielding a cross section of those involved with design, development, infrastructure, technology and retail within rail stations.

The conference format included plenty of networking opportunities and a chance for delegates to build relationships with exhibitors who included Codra, UKTI, Cycle365, AMT coffee, Merson Signs and CCD. 5 great speeches followed by workshops which also gave the audience an opportunity to raise their own voice, themes included ‘Continental Connections’, ‘Station Management’, ‘Retail in Rail’ and ‘Station Design’.

The program also included a tour of the Atos Origin innovation exhibition which showcased the latest technological advances.

The conference ended with an awards ceremony with winners including Jonathan Hodges – Jason Bruges Studios – for Innovation in Design, Mervyn George – AATi – for Innovation in Engineering, Neil Monnery – WH Smith – for Innovation in Station in Retail, the company Red Sporred Hanky for Best in Conference and Hiro Aso – John McAslan and Partners – for Outstanding Achievement in Station Design and Construction.