Two blue chippers Aston Martin and Foster + Partners raked in a not-much-needed $38,000 (£25,000) and a first-prize award along with Capoco Design for re-jiggering London’s famous double decker bus, the Routemaster.
Sharing the award with Capoco Design, who specializes in bus and truck designs, Foster went the bulbous route without going too retro-Airstream as did many of the other 700 entries into the competition put on by Transport for London. Runners-up (but no more cash prizes) included Héctor Serrano Studio from the UK, Miñarro García, Javier Esteban from Spain, and Jamie Martin, from London.
Of the Aston Martin/Foster design, Judges said they “particularly liked the overall styling package, especially the rear end” and such throwback detailing as wood flooring; LED ads and solar panels on the roof add a little more latter-day relevancy. A prototype is due by 2011.