Mayor Boris Johnson invited the studio to help design London's first new bus in fifty years—a hybrid that reduces energy consumption by 40 percent. To streamline passenger flow, the team reintroduced the open platform of the famous Routemaster—the last bus designed specifically for London. It shrank overall bulk by rounding corners and edges and, given the asymmetry of three doors on one side, wrapped the exterior with ribbon-like windows that illuminate the rear stairway. The studio also designed interior upholstery, stairs, lighting, hand poles, and stop buttons. A fleet of 600 will be delivered by 2016.
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