Meon and Amey bring museum street to life... The London Bus Museum

Meon and Amey bring museum street to life... The London Bus Museum

The London Bus Museum in Weybridge, Surrey, has had its’ indoor street brought to life thanks to a collaboration between Amey and Meon.

The museum, located next to Brooklands Museum in Weybridge, approached Amey to see if they could volunteer their expertise with designing and creating a new street layout in the museum. As currently closed due to COVID-19 restrictions, the opportunity is being taken to refurbish photograph displays and information screens, including the concept of creating a more realistic experience by adding a street scene.

As a highway specialist that takes pride in delivering public services and playing an active role in the community it serves, Amey sought the help and support of Meon, their line marking and surface repair specialist supplier.

Volunteering their time, Meon set to work to create a street scene that covers 300m², an area of 10 London buses! The floor coating and line marking system requirements within the London Bus Museum building included cold application methods to remove any risk to the museum volunteers on site.

The scheme utilised Meon’s sustainable FloorCote and TrafficLine products, and supported two of LBM’s key objectives:

  1. To achieve the highest possible standards of public display in the Museum.
  2. To develop and maintain appropriate contacts with influential organisations and individuals whose support will be beneficial to the Museum.

Sunita Dulai, Account Director for Transport Infrastructure at Amey, said: “Working in Surrey and the surrounding area, we were approached by the London Bus Museum to see if we could help bring their indoor street to life. Always looking to see how we can give back to the communities we work in and as highways maintenance specialists, we collaborated with our suppliers Meon to see what could be achieved.”

“I’m delighted now to see the works on the street scene is now completed. The fact that the paint work is both hard wearing and sustainable, I hope that this new street will be enjoyed by many visitors for years to come.”

Meon completed the works in 3 days, after an initial trial of the new lining product at the end of January 2021.

Russell Smallridge, Technical Director at Meon, said: “Through the development of a commercial strategic partnership between Amey and Meon, focus on the decarbonisation of line marking and highway repairs for infrastructure projects was established. The London Bus Museum was identified as a suitable organisation that both companies could support on a social value project.”

“The location at Brooklands, Weybridge sits within the western limits of Surrey County Council, of whom we are also activity working in collaboration with Meon on trialling new systems for road marking and pedestrian crossing panels that support Safety, Durability and Sustainability objectives.”

Adrian Smallridge, Technical Support at Meon, added: “Meon was asked to provide a roadway through the Bus Museum which would provide a better journey for the visitors and allow the buses to appear to be travelling along this roadway.  Museum staff were understandably concerned that there was no trip hazard, although the roadway needed to look as realistic as possible.  A slip resistant paint was required without providing too rough a surface that then became a hazard. A successful project.”

Leon Daniels, Chairman of the London Bus Museum, had this to say on the project: “For our first museum refresh in a decade we knew we needed a roadway to put some of our old buses in their street context. The challenge was by what method given we needed it to look like a real road but be very thin and durable. The finished result, complete with the shadow line on the kerb really makes the roadway stand out; the choice of colours was well thought out to provide a granite kerb with a darker shadow line to give it a three-dimensional look.  The Museum’s two objectives were met – looked realistic and safe for all visitors.” 

Due to COVID-19 the London Transport Museum is currently closed. To find out more information about when it is due to reopen and the exhibits on display, follow the link here https://www.londonbusmuseum.com/ 

To learn more about the services provided by Meon visit https://meonuk.com/

To understand more about Amey and the role it plays in the community follow the link here https://www.amey.co.uk/social-value/what-were-doing/