Project Overview

Cambridge South is one of the UK's most striking examples of sustainable station design — a new four-platform, two-storey station on the West Anglia Main Line, built to serve the Cambridge Biomedical Campus. Its defining feature is a curved, undulating canopy roof combining green, biodiverse planting with an extensive array of photovoltaic panels, generating clean power for the station while providing weather protection for passengers below.

The Installation

Platforms 1 to 3 use our semi-transparent glass-glass PV panels (PS-PC-ST), which double as the weatherproof roof membrane for the canopy while allowing filtered daylight through to the platform below. Platform 4 takes a different approach, using higher-output opaque panels mounted onto an award winning Bauder roof system, chosen to suit that section of the canopy's roof build-up.

• Platform 1: 176 semi-transparent glass PV panels ~ 65 kWp
• Platform 2: 184 semi-transparent glass PV panels ~ 68 kWp
• Platform 3: 184 semi-transparent glass PV panels ~ 68 kWp
• Platform 4: 106 TW Solar panels on the Bauder roof system ~ 44 kWp

Each platform has its own dedicated inverter, keeping the systems independent and making maintenance and monitoring straightforward across the station.

The Challenge

This was far from a standard solar installation. The canopy's architecture uses a complex, undulating curved form rather than a flat or single-pitch roof, meaning every panel position had to be individually set out and verified before installation could begin. Add to that:

• A live rail environment — all work had to comply with Network Rail's safety protocols, access windows, and site controls, with a significant proportion of the roofing and PV works carried out during night possessions
• A large, multi-contractor site — coordinating install sequencing with Murphy's wider construction programme and the trades working around us
• Precision at scale — 648 panels across four platforms, each needing exact alignment across a non-uniform roof geometry, with no tolerance for error once panels were fixed in place

Our Approach

Success on a site like this comes down to two things: precision setting out and clear communication. Our team worked closely with the design and site teams to translate the canopy's curved geometry into an accurate, panel-by-panel setting-out plan for each platform, ensuring every panel sat correctly within the undulating structure. Close, continuous coordination with Murphy's site management kept our installation aligned with the broader programme and Network Rail's operational requirements throughout.

The Result

650 solar PV panels, generating 245.27 kWp, now span the full length of all four platform canopies at Cambridge South — a technically demanding installation delivered safely, to programme, and to the exacting standards expected on a live Network Rail site. The finished canopies now stand as one of the most visually distinctive solar installations on the UK rail network, combining renewable energy generation with genuinely striking architecture.

Buildings as generators of power

Cambridge South demonstrates what's possible when solar PV is designed into a building's architecture from the outset rather than added as an afterthought. Projects like this show our capability to deliver complex, large-format solar installations on technically challenging structures, within the safety and quality standards demanded by critical national infrastructure.

Sector: Rail Infrastructure  |  Category: Solar  |  Principal Contractor: Murphy |  Client Authority: Network Rail |  Architects: Arcadis and Fereday Pollard & Partners.