Nestled in Bournemouth’s Strouden Park, the Mallard Road Bus Depot stands as a quiet testament to mid-20th-century engineering. Built between 1950 and 1951 by Jackson and Greenen for Bournemouth Corporation, the depot was designed to house buses and trolleybuses, with structural expertise provided by Alfred Goldstein.

Its most striking feature? A thin-shell reinforced concrete roof, formed by nine cylindrical vaults, making it Britain’s largest span of shell construction at the time and the first to be post-tensioned. This pioneering design influenced many similar structures across the country.

For decades, the depot was a hub of activity, serving Bournemouth’s iconic Yellow Buses. However, in 2007, the site transitioned into a retail park, with the Grade II-listed depot garage still standing, now housing a retail store. Despite its new commercial role, the depot’s distinctive humped roof remains a nostalgic marker of Bournemouth’s transport history.

One of the most notable preservation efforts has been the retention of the original depot doors, which still stand as a reminder of the site's transport heritage. These doors, once the gateway for Bournemouth’s fleet, now serve as a subtle yet significant architectural relic, maintaining a connection to the depot’s past.

A round white vent with horizontal black slats on a brick wall beneath a white concrete trim. Below, glass windows are visible.

The image shows the front of a building with a brick facade, large glass windows on the middle level, a round vent or decorative element in the brick wall, and a curved white roof above. There are black parking bollards in front of the building on the sidewalk.

Exterior view of a modern brick and glass shopping store with the sign 'b&m home store'. There are streetlights, traffic lights, and plants in the foreground, and other retail stores visible in the background.

Though its original function has faded, the Mallard Road Bus Depot continues to whisper stories of innovation, movement, and urban evolution. A relic of Bournemouth’s past, it reminds us that even the most utilitarian structures can hold architectural significance.