Croydon is now home to the capital’s most “charming and creative” bus station according to judges after it defeated tough competition to win two of London’s most coveted architecture awards.

West Croydon Bus Station won the 2017 Royal Institute of British Architects' (RIBA) London Award in the regional category, a much-improved design that now oversees the estimated 150 buses that enter each hour, and seven million passengers on 25 different routes.

The new infrastructure was designed by Transport for London's (TfL) in-house teams with an environmentally-friendly approach which includes new solar panels, LED material to light the station instead of conventional bulbs, and air source heat pumps for the summer and winter months.

It improves on the previous station that was originally built in 1985.

Martin Eriksson, TfL’s architect, was also awarded the RIBA London Project Architect of the Year Award.

Judges said “the project made a brilliant case for the value of a brilliant design on even small-scale infrastructure, and for projects that are fully achievable under budget with the right leadership and vision”.

They added: “It is a first building in what the jury hopes will be a continuing programme to improve the quality of bus stations across London.”

In the same week, it also won a highly commended award in the infrastructure category at the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors Awards.

Winning architect Martin Eriksson, said: “We wanted to design a building which recognises the importance of our customers and improves their journeys. It was vital that it was safe, attractive, and respected the environment, and at the same time works for the huge number of customers using this important interchange for the borough.”

The station is one of several improvements by Croydon Council, in partnership with TfL, to support the West Croydon Masterplan and other projects.