In a time when cities face growing climate pressures, the smallest gestures in design can hold the greatest power. Bush Stop, a SPARK-led research initiative, reimagines the humble bus shelter as a piece of living infrastructure — not just a place to wait, but a space that cools, cleans, and connects.

Designed by SPARK Architects with engineering partner, Cundall and green builder, Nature Landscapes, Bush Stop is a quiet hero. It doesn’t rely on scale or spectacle, but invites us to see the overlooked corners of the city as opportunities for ecological repair and civic imagination.

a quiet provocation

“Sometimes the most enduring design ideas come from the quietest inventions,” reflects Stephen Pimbley, Founding Director of SPARK Architects.

“Bush Stop takes something utilitarian, even forgettable, and transforms it into an organism. It asks you to look twice at something you thought you already knew.”

Bush Stop transforms a utilitarian bus stop into living infrastructure — cooling with greenery, filtering rainwater, and offering moments of comfort and connection. Built with a lightweight steel-and-timber shell, modular foundations, and native planting, it enhances biodiversity while supporting social use with seating, LED displays, and bicycle facilities. Aligned with Singapore’s “City in a Garden” vision, Bush Stop reimagines overlooked infrastructure as civic micro-landmarks that improve well-being and spark new ways of living in the city.

different perspectives of bush stop. GIF By spark architects.

Engineering for Elegance and Efficiency

For Cundall’s Director Chaoming Yu, the challenge was making Bush Stop’s organic form buildable.

“One of the biggest hurdles was translating architecture that looks organic into a structure that could actually be prefabricated and installed quickly,” Yu explains. “Our solution was a lightweight grid shell made of low-carbon steel and timber, paired with a modular precast base. The result balances strength, sustainability, and speed of construction.”

*Designed by Cundall.*

*Structural Concept of Bush Stop.*

The design pushes sustainability by using low-carbon materials like steel and lightweight timber to balance strength and environmental performance. Its prefabricated modular system also allows rapid off-site assembly with minimal disruption. The result is a prototype that is not only visionary, but scalable.

Functional Green Design

Suresh Nair, Landscape Director of Nature Landscapes, emphasizes that greenery is not just decorative, but functional. “Plants act as infrastructure,” he notes. “They cool the air, clean the environment, and create shade and comfort. Not all bus stops can adopt such a design — some sites may face constraints or maintenance challenges. Successful implementation relies on careful integration of energy, water, and landscape systems, which are key to materializing this concept.”

Design for civic imagination

Bush Stop is more than just a shelter; it is a prototype for possibility. It asks us to see infrastructure not as static utility, but as an active agent in shaping how we live and interact with the city.