3M’s ETFE chosen for roof refit at London’s Tottenham Hale bus station

An Ethylene fluoroplastic (ETFE) provided by 3M and extruded by Nowofol was chosen for a major roof renovation at London’s Tottenham Hale bus station in 2014. 

3M, the laminates and films conglomerate, provided ‘Dyneon fluoroplastic ETFE’ for the renovation, which was undertaken in order to ensure the station is fit for purpose for decades to come. 

Opened in 1840, Tottenham Hale is one of the oldest railway stations in Europe. It serves the West Anglia Main Line and the Lea Valley Lines, aswell as the London Underground’s Victoria Line. In 2014 Transport for London completed its £110 million transformation to a bus and rail interchange.

For the renovation, the bus station roof was covered with around 860 square metres of ETFE highly transparent film. 3M assured Transport for London the ETFE will withstand Tottenham’s environmental impacts for forty years. The surface of the film is so smooth that the rain rinses off virtually all dirt, keeping the roof transparent and reducing maintenance. ETFE films have high tensile strength, tear propagation resistance and puncture resistance. They also withstand impact from hail, and can bear high snow loads.

Dyneon ETFE has 95 per cent light clarity, but weighs only five per cent of a comparable glass build, allowing very slender support structures roof, increasing the brightness. Tensioning wires attached to the steel pillars support the film webs, which are welded to each other.