ETFE roofs for stations, airports and transport hubs

ETFE answers all three. The panels are light enough to handle in short possessions, so a roof can go on above a running station rather than requiring closure. The system loads little onto structures that are often over a century old or built over viaducts and tunnels with almost no spare capacity.

Safety is the argument that wins over glass in stations. Overhead glazing over platforms is a permanent hazard: birds, impact and age all end the same way, with glass falling where passengers stand. ETFE deforms instead of shattering, and the panels are too light to pose the same risk. At Carlisle, the 1846 train shed's glass was replaced with ETFE for exactly that reason.

Then there is daylight. Concourses at Birmingham New Street and Leeds sit below or between other structures; a translucent roof pushes even daylight into the whole space instead of a bright patch under a rooflight.