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Further design info from NBI
Following the successful [[The development of Kidderminster Town Station|extension to Kidderminster and completion of the first phases of the new station building]], new plans for a carriage shed at Kidderminster emerged. An application to the Heritage Lottery Fund titled the ‘SVR Heritage Project’ was submitted on 30 April 1997 seeking funding of £6.5m. The carriage shed was to be a traditional style building, while the application also included a locomotive display building for both steam and diesel locomotives, an extension to [[Kidderminster Footbridge]] to allow better road and pedestrian access to the site, and a 10-year carriage restoration plan. A consequence of the application was that the articles of association of [[SVR(H)]] were amended to become a non-profit distributing organisation in order to qualify for lottery money.<ref>SVR News 123-124</ref>
Fundraising including an [[SVRA]] raffle had raised over £100,000 by spring 1998. However the HLF requested a scaled-down application which was submitted on 12 August 1998 at a value of £2.4m. Plans for the locomotive display building were dropped, while the carriage shed became the modern design with a single span curved roof eventually built. The footbridge extension and restoration of carriages were still included, although ultimately these too were dropped.<ref>SVR News 128-129</ref> Peter Lyons, a Senior Partner at International Architects Peter Hing & Jones of Birmingham was appointed architect. This was constructed on the sloping site of the goodswagon marshalling yard and involved great expertise sas it was the only building he had designed which was not vertical due to it being at right angles to the gradient.<ref>Moreton, Barry, Peter Lyons' obituary NBI, December 2022</ref>
On 12 May 1999 the SVR announced that it had been awarded a grant of £1.757m towards construction of the carriage shed, at the time the largest grant made to a heritage railway. Planning permission was granted on 22 June. Further fundraising secured another £170k within 2 months of the grant, reaching 75% of the partnership funding required and allowing contracts to be signed with the design and build contractors Tarmac Building (later Carillion).<ref>SVR News 130</ref>
