NTU Students join forces with NET to design a tramstop of the future

A collaborative project between students from Nottingham Trent University (NTU) and Nottingham Express Transit, and Nottingham City Council has helped to design concepts for a “tramstop of the future”. Students from the Civil Engineering and Product Design courses came together to showcase their thoughts on what stops could look like in the future.

There is an unused “ghost” tramstop located between Lace Market and Nottingham Station which was built during original construction of the first NET line, with a view towards it opening as demand in the area grew. With the Broad Marsh Master Plan currently in progress, it is thought that the stop may be needed in the future and this project has helped NET to get some ideas of what it may look like.

The students mimicked the usual professional project of how a tramstop would be designed. This saw Civil Engineering students briefed by NET at Wilkinson Street Depot and then over eight weeks they met with various representatives from both NET and the Council on a weekly basis. These meetings saw them discuss their ideas and gain feedback, before working on their designs in three groups. These three final designs were then presented to representatives of NET, as well as NTU Product Design students, who then further developed one area of the designs in a week-long sprint.

Andrew Conroy, Chief Operating Officer for NET, said: “We love working with the university students as they present such a different way of thinking. This is an invaluable way to drive innovation in our city’s transport system, while the students get their chance to potentially shape the future of our network with their designs.

“This isn’t just a mock task, but rather their insights will play a crucial role in our future plans for the site, which may well see us incorporate some of the elements proposed by the students. It’s an opportunity for the students to make a lasting mark on the city.

“They aren’t restricted in the same way that someone who’s worked in a role for years might be, and hearing their thoughts causes us to challenge the way we think as a business. By combining their fresh ideas with our real-world input, it quickly becomes a melting pot of exciting designs that could really make a great impact at such a crucial time for the city.

“We really value this partnership with NTU, as well as Nottingham City Council, and it’s been brilliant to get to know the students throughout the process – some of whom may be our next network engineering directors and designers of the future, helping to make these concepts become a reality.”

Tom Bradley and Arley Watson-Pill were two of the Civil Engineering students whose group design was selected by NET and course leaders as hitting the brief successfully.

Tom commented: “The opportunity to have the interaction with NET and the Nottingham city Council has made our experience so much better. Every week we have come in with a design and they have given us ideas, or insight into the industry that has helped us take our design to another level, which we weren’t able to do in previous years or projects.”

Arley added: “The interdisciplinary element was a great benefit too. As Civil Engineers, we are always looking at the technical side of things, but because we knew that the Product Design students would be working on our ideas next, it helped us to consider things from a different perspective. I’m looking forward to how they will build our idea further, thinking about the aesthetics and the day-to-day interaction from the people who will be using it, rather than how it functions, which is what we’re usually focused on.”

The students were tasked with incorporating key factors such as sustainability, accessibility and adding social value to the area into the new stop as well as making it safe, secure and fit for purpose. Integrating it into other forms of public transport was also part of the brief.

David Russhard, principal lecturer in Civil Engineering at NTU, said: “We’ve been working together with NET for a number of years now, but this is the first time we’ve created a project that gives the students both the industry insight and the integration between different disciplines. It helps to give them a really authentic understanding of the real world of work, while studying with us here at university.

“They’ve done a fantastic job, and by taking into account the different areas of expertise that the students from each course brings, it’s helped them to think about their work on a deeper level. It’s really important for us to ensure our students are prepared with the technical understanding as well as the softer skills and wider context of the industry, and being able to offer this is a real strength of our course.”