Laser-cut stainless steel creates an intricately patterned surface on the walls of this upgraded metro station in Amsterdam by architecture firm Maccreanor Lavington (+ slideshow).
Maccreanor Lavington‘s Rotterdam studio overhauled the 1970s Kraaiennest station in the Bijlmermeer neighbourhood of Amsterdam, increasing its capacity and modernising its facilities.
The decorative steel screens surround the new ground-level entrance, allowing natural light to filter inside during the day. After dark, lights glowing from within transform the structure into a glowing beacon that makes it easy for locals to find.
“At night time the design allows the station to be a lantern for the local neighbourhood,” said the architect in a statement.
As well as the laser-cut panels surrounding the base of the station, the opaque upper walls are also made from stainless steel. The architect says this material will age well and need little maintenance.
Unlike the old station, which only offered stairs, the new facility incorporates a series of escalators to transport passengers up to the platform. This will help it offer regular transport to around 100,000 local residents.
The upgraded Kraaiennest station is the latest in a series of infrastructure improvements underway in the 1960s neighbourhood. It follows the 2008 completion of Grimshaw’s Bijlmer Station, which was shortlisted for the RIBA Stirling Prize.
Here’s a project description from Maccreanor Lavington:
New €14 million Metro Station completed in Amsterdam
London and Rotterdam based architecture firm, Maccreanor Lavington has completed a major new metro station in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
The new 550m² station and 1,880m² platform in the neighbourhood of Bijlmermeer started on site in 2010 and sits on the site of the original station, built in 1970.
The metro station features a ground level entrance with new escalators to take passengers up to the platforms, a major improvement for citizens as the old station only had stairs. The ground level entrance provides the main focal point of the station with an elegant stainless steel facade with a floral design. The laser cut design allows plenty of natural light to flow through the entrance, helping the passenger journey to seamlessly flow from the external surroundings into the station.
At night time the design allows the station to be a lantern for the local neighbourhood, creating a sense of warmth on street level and creating an instantly recognisable feature for the station. The architects’ chose stainless steel for the external facade due to its durability and low maintenance enabling the station not to need constant upkeep.
Since the beginning of the late 1990s the area has seen massive investment transforming it from its previous negative public opinion and now making it a thriving suburb of Amsterdam.
Now completed, the station will be in use by over 100,000 residents in Bijlmermeer, a vast increase on the number of users from when the station first opened and completes one of the biggest urban regeneration projects in Europe in recent history.
An angular metal-clad canopy now projects over a public square at the entrance to Rotterdam Centraal station, which reopened last week following an extensive remodelling by a team including Dutch firm Benthem Crouwel Architects (+ slideshow).
A project team called Team CS, comprising Benthem Crouwel Architects, MVSA Architects and landscape firm West 8, was tasked with redeveloping the existing station built in 1957, which was struggling to meet the demands of a modern transportation hub.
The architects expanded the main station complex and updated the surrounding public spaces to improve the building’s integration with its urban context.
“The new station is not only larger, brighter and more orderly than the former, but also has an international feel; it beautifully complements both the efficiency of the hi-speed stop and Rotterdam city’s bold ambitions for urban development and renewal,” said the architects in a statement.
A modest entrance on the north side of the station reflects the character of its historic surroundings and the smaller number of passengers who use it, while the shiny canopy above the main entrance signals the station’s presence to those approaching from the city.
“The roof of the hall, fully clad with stainless steel, gives rise to the building’s iconic character and points to the heart of the city,” said the architects.
The underside of the projecting structure is partly clad in wood and envelops a glazed wall that opens up to a bright forecourt with an angular wooden ceiling.
“The wood finish on the inside of the hall, combined with the structural wooden beams of the platform roof creates a warm and welcoming ambience, inviting visitors to linger,” the architects added.
Stone floor slabs with a reddish hue continue from the esplanade into the station’s forecourt, helping to enhance the connection between the external and internal spaces.
Parking for 750 cars and 5200 bicycles is hidden away underneath the esplanade. Meanwhile, services for buses, taxis and trams, have been relocated to free up space for pedestrians.
The roof above the platforms is made from glass so passengers arrive into an airy space filled with natural daylight. Light also reaches the lower levels through large voids containing staircases and escalators.
Solar panels partly covering the roof have a high level of transparency to prevent them reducing the amount of light entering the station.
A narrow horizontal LED screen in the main hall was donated by the Port of Rotterdam and displays imagery relating to the city’s heritage as an important port.
Photography is by Jannes Linders, apart from where otherwise stated.
Here’s some more information from the project team:
Rotterdam Centraal
Rotterdam Centraal Station is one of the most important transport hubs in The Netherlands. With 110,000 passengers a day the public transport terminal has as many travellers as Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. In addition to the European network of the High Speed Train (HST), Rotterdam Centraal is also connected to the light rail system, RandstadRail. With the advent of both the HST and RandstadRail the number of daily travellers at Rotterdam Centraal is expected to increase to approximately 323,000 by 2025.
Rotterdam HST is the first stop in the Netherlands when travelling from the south and is strategically positioned in the middle of Europe, with Schiphol only twenty minutes and Paris a mere two and a half hours away. Hence the new station is not only larger, brighter and more orderly than the former, but also has an international feel; it beautifully complements both the efficiency of the Hispeed stop and the Rotterdam city’s bold ambitions for urban development and renewal. The station matches in all respects the practicality, capacity, comfort and allure, of the central stations of Madrid, Paris, London and Brussels.
Integration in urban environment
One of the fundamental challenges of Rotterdam Centraal station was the difference in the urban character of the north and south side of the station. The entrance on the north side has a modest design, appropriate to the character of the neighbourhood Provenierswijk and the smaller number of passengers. The entrance gradually connects to the city. In the Provenierswijk the character of the 19th-century Dutch provincial town is strengthened. Large architectural extensions are avoided on this side of the station, the presence of green is ameliorated and the station is transparent.
In contrast, the grand entrance on the city side is clearly the gateway to the high-rise urban centre. Here the station derives its new international, metropolitan identity from the hall made of glass and wood. The roof of the hall, fully clad with stainless steel, gives rise to building’s iconic character and points to the heart of the city.
Now Rotterdam Centraal has the appropriate structure and dimensions for the urban landscape; it is in balance with the heights that characterise the metropolis and simultaneously reflects the human scale. The city of Rotterdam is drawn to the new station via the compaction of the small-scale urban texture surrounding the public transport terminal. The entire railway zone becomes one with the city. This finer urban texture with new sight lines and a mixture of living and working will dramatically improve the quality of life and the environment of the station area.
The esplanade in front of the station is a continuous public space. To achieve this simplicity a parking garage for 750 cars and a bicycle shed for 5,200 bicycles are located under the square. The tram station is moved to the east side of the station, so the platforms broaden the square. Bus, tram, taxi and the area for short-term parking are integrated into the existing urban fabric and do not constitute barriers. The red stone of the station floor continues into the forecourt, merging the station with the city. Pedestrian and cycling routes are pleasant and safe and arriving travellers now have dignified entrance to the city, free from traffic.
Incorporation of natural light, the warmth of the sun’s rays and a modern look are important elements in the design. The platform roof on the Proveniersside is transparent. When the train drives into the station, there is an almost tangible feeling of being enshrouded in the station building. Upon entering in the bright high hall through the centre side, the traveler gets an overview of the entire complex and a view to the trains that are waiting invitingly along the platforms.
The wood finish on the inside of the hall, combined with the structural wooden beams of the platform roof creates a warm and welcoming ambience, inviting visitors to linger. The largely transparent roof structure which covers all the tracks over a length of 250 meters, flood the platforms with light. The glass plates of the roof vary the level of light transmittance by utilising different solar cells patterns, which produce an ever-changing and fascinating play of shadows on the platforms.
The routing through the station is logical; travellers are guided by a direct view of the trains and by the daylight that penetrates to the traveler’s passage via the voids that extend through the transparent roof platform and down to the stairs. Because of its transparency the widened traveler’s passage, lined with commercial functions, forms a natural part of the station. Escalators, lifts and stairs lead up to the new platforms, which feature inviting and comfortable platform furniture. On the west side of the station there is a footbridge over the tracks for travellers in transit. This footbridge also functions as an escape route in the event of an emergency.
The passenger terminal is a national and international hub that connects train, tram, bus and subway. The public transport terminal is designed for passenger comfort, which is visible in the different zones of the station. It includes commercial spaces, a lounge, restaurants, offices, parking for cars and bicycles. In the spacious concourse the passenger service functions are conveniently arranged. There is travel information, an information point, the Dutch Railways (NS) travellers shop, ticket vending machines and commercial functions. The grand café and the NS-lounge offer spectacular views across the hall and the adjacent tracks. Waiting areas in the hall and the passage are linked to the passenger flows, with areas both for browsing and quick shopping.
The new Rotterdam Centraal Station is a pleasant, open and transparent public transport terminal which functions as an iconic meeting point. Interwoven into the urban network, the station connects the diverse characters of the city and marks the beginning of Rotterdam’s cultural axis. This modern and efficient building offers travellers to and from the port city all the amenities and comfort they could want or need in the present and the future.
Windows with 130,000 solar cells cover 10,000 m2 of the total roof area of 28,000 m2. This is the largest application of solar energy in a station roof in The Netherlands and is also one of the largest rooftop solar projects in Europe. The solar cells are placed on the parts of the roof that get the most sun, taking into account the high buildings around Rotterdam Centraal. The glass panels vary in light transmittance by using different patterns in the solar cells. Where the roof has the greatest efficiency in terms of sunlight, the cell density is the highest. The solar cells that are integrated in the roof have a high degree of transparency, so there is ample light. The solar cells represent an 8% reduction in the station’s CO2 emissions. The cells are expected to generate 320 megawatt per annum, which is enough energy for 100 households.
The former station was designed by Sybold of Ravesteyn in 1957. However, this post-war building was no longer suitable for the current passenger numbers and complexity of the transport hub. In order to maintain the connection with the past after the demolition of the building, several characteristic elements from the former station can be found in the new Rotterdam Centraal. The Speculaasjes, two typical granite sculptures are placed above the access to the bike tunnel. The beginning of the esplanade is defined by two flagpoles, which were also part of the former station. Moreover, the letters ROTTERDAM CENTRAAL and the station clock are proudly displayed on the current façade as a tribute to the past.
In the main hall of the station a LED screen of 40 x 4.5 meters has been installed. To emphasise the importance of the port and to strengthen the bond between the city and the port, the Port of Rotterdam donated the LED screen to the City of Rotterdam. By showing elements of the port on this LED screen, the Port of Rotterdam wants to give the thousands of travellers who arrive daily in Rotterdam the feeling that they have entered a port city, even though the port has slowly disappeared from the cityscape, due to seawards development. Now travellers can enjoy views of Europe’s largest port at all hours and times of the day.
Team CS is a cooperation between Benthem Crouwel Architects, MVSA Meyer en Van Schooten Architecten and West 8. This unique combination of designers came to existence in 2003, when the competition for the new Rotterdam Centraal was issued.
Client: Gemeente Rotterdam and ProRail Architect Team CS: a cooperation between Benthem Crouwel Architects, MVSA Meyer en van Schooten Architecten and West 8 Gross floor area: 46,000 m² Gross floor area urban design: 50,000 m² Location: Stationsplein 1, 3013 AJ Rotterdam, The Netherlands Lead architects: Jan Benthem, Marcel Blom, Adriaan Geuze, Jeroen van Schooten Project team: Arman Akdogan, Anja Blechen, Freek Boerwinkel, Amir Farokhian, Joost Koningen, Joost van Noort, Falk Schneeman, Daphne Schuit, Matthijs Smit (†), Andrew Tang, Wouter Thijssen, Joost Vos Structural engineer: Arcadis and Gemeentewerken Rotterdam Mechanical services: Arcadis and Gemeentewerken Rotterdam Building physics: Arcadis and Gemeentewerken Rotterdam Contractor: Bouwcombinatie TBI Rotterdam Centraal (BTRC), Iemants NV (zuidhal)
This railway station in the Netherlands by Dutch studio NL Architects comprises a cross formation of shipping containers that frame a transparent waiting room and cafe (+ slideshow).
NL Architects designed the Barneveld Noord station for Dutch national railway service ProRail, which is upgrading 20 stations across the country as part of a campaign called Prettig Wachten, or Pleasant Waiting. The aim is to make waiting for trains a more comfortable experience for passengers.
“One of the keys to the success of Prettig Wachten is to introduce human presence on these stations, to create some sort of informal supervision,” said the architects, explaining the concept to add features such as WIFI and artwork to stations.
The architects used shipping containers to create a temporary structure that could easily be relocated.
“Containers seemed a cheap and light material that can easily be put together and taken apart, ” the architects told Dezeen. “These huge building blocks allowed us to create a large sculpture with minimal effort.”
Three of the containers form a roof above the glazed waiting room. One has an open bottom, creating a double-height space, while the other two are sealed to provide overhead storage.
A fourth container has been flipped on its side to form a clock tower in the middle of the structure. A toilet is located inside, with a skylight overhead to let in natural light.
A gilded chicken sits on the top of the tower, as a reference to the local egg farming industry that earned the route its nickname “chicken line”.
Photography is by Marcel van der Burg, apart from where otherwise indicated.
Here’s a project description from the architects:
Barneveld Noord
ProRail, responsible for the railway network in the Netherlands, together with the so-called spoorbouwmeester Koen van Velsen (the national supervisor for railway architecture) started a campaign to make waiting more comfortable: Prettig Wachten.
Photograph by Bart van Hoek
Travellers experience waiting on a station as much longer then waiting within a vehicle. Surveys have indicated that waiting time is experienced as three times longer than it actually is. In this respect especially small and medium sized stations proof a big challenge. These smaller stations are usually unmanned, desolate, often creating a sense un-safety. What can we do to improve them?
The waiting areas of in total twenty stations throughout the country will be upgraded, both functionally and cosmetically: introduction of washrooms, wifi, floor heating, railway TV. Or art! One of the keys to the success of Prettig Wachten is to introduce human presence on these stations, to create some sort of informal supervision.
Photograph by Bart van Hoek
An effort is made to create small multifunctional shops. In Wolvega for instance a flower shop will be opened, the florist will also be serving coffee and will even be cleaning the restrooms.
Photograph by Bart van Hoek
In Barneveld Noord a bike-repair shop will be included run by people that are ‘differently able’. They will contribute to the maintenance and hopefully prevent the broken window syndrome. In Barneveld Noord a new station will be build. Well station, perhaps more a bus-stop. But then again, quite an intriguing bus stop. It is supposed to be a temporary structure. Hence the station will be build out of shipping containers. The containers contain space, but also form space. They will be combined into an explicit arrangement. Together they form an ambiguous but strong sign. Minimum effort, maximum output.
Long section
Three containers are ‘suspended’ in the air. Together they form a ‘roof’. One contains the installations, the other storage. The third will be opened at the bottom. It forms the headroom for the enclosed but fully transparent waiting area, creating a double high space.
Cross section
The fourth container is flipped to an upright position. It makes an instant tower. The tower contains a clock. And a wind vane. Since Barneveld is the egg capital of the Netherlands – the station is located on the so-called Chicken Line – not the typical rooster will be mounted, but a gilded chicken. The tower holds a lavatory, 11.998mm high, topped by a glass roof. Royal Flush.
Front elevation
Project: train station in the framework of Prettig Wachten, 2011, Completion: 2013 Initiative ‘Prettig Wachten’ and Supervision: Spoorbouwmeester Koen van Velsen / ProRail Client: ProRail NL Architects: Pieter Bannenberg, Walter van Dijk, Kamiel Klaasse Project Architect: Gerbrand van Oostveen Team: Kirsten Hüsig, Barbara Luns, Gert Jan Machiels and Gen Yamamoto with Aude Robert and Christian Asbo Consultant: Movares Contractor: Strukton
News: British designer Thomas Heatherwick has been commissioned to design a string of metro stations for Beijing and is also bidding to develop two new stations on the London Underground.
Thomas Heatherwick, who is currently travelling with London Mayor Boris Johnson on a trade mission to China, has so far been appointed to work on two stations for the Chinese capital, which plans to add 125 miles to its underground rail network, but could develop an entire line with as many as 20 stations, according to a report in the Evening Standard.
“There will be a chance to think about the whole line as an entity, as a character and my interest would be how you could make that feel more distinctively Beijing,” he told the paper.
Heatherwick has also made an informal bid to work on the extension to the Northern Line in London, which if approved would see new stations constructed in Nine Elms and Battersea.
News: SHoP Architects and SOM are among four firms putting forward their visions for the future of New York’s Pennsylvania Station and Madison Square Garden.
SHoP Architects proposes to expand the main hall of Penn Station into a bright and airy space surrounded by new parks and amenities. An extension of the High Line – the New York park built along a section of a former elevated railway – would connect the station to a new Madison Square Garden offsite.
SOM
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP (SOM) put forward a huge expansion of the station centred around a central, transparent ticket hall. Floating above it would be an inverted dome containing offices, apartments and green spaces staggered over multiple levels.
SOM
The proposal by Diller Scofidio + Renfro suggests moving Madison Square Garden across Eighth Avenue and expanding Penn Station upwards to include new amenities such as a theatre and spa.
SOM
Finally, H3 Hardy Collaboration Architecture proposes shifting Madison Square Garden to a 16-acre platform over the Hudson River at 34th Street, creating cycling and pedestrian promenades and a new 16-acre park.
Diller Scofidio + Renfro
The competition was launched to encourage discussion about the future of the site, which seems increasingly uncertain. While the owners of Madison Square Garden have asked to renew their permit for the site above the station “in perpetuity”, the New York City Planning Commission recently voted to limit it to 15 years, placing a question mark over the arena’s future.
Diller Scofidio + Renfro
Penn Station, which was designed to accommodate around 200,000 passengers a day but now has to deal with around 640,000, is seen by many New Yorkers as inefficient and badly in need of an update.
News: architecture firm Foster + Partners has unveiled proposals to increase the capacity of New York’s Grand Central Terminal by widening approach routes and pedestrianising streets (+ slideshow).
The architects were one of three teams invited by the Municipal Art Society of New York to re-think the public spaces in and around the 100-year-old station, which was designed to serve around 75,000 passengers a day but often sees as many as a million passing through.
Foster + Partners’ proposals include the pedestrianisation of Vanderbilt Avenue to the west of the station, creating a public square at the entrance to the new East Side Access lines, surrounded by trees, cafes and public art.
The plans also include wider pavements and trees on the southern approach from 42nd Street and along Lexington Avenue to the east, while larger underground spaces would lead into the terminal from Park Avenue to the north.
Inside the station, wider concourses would help to ease congestion for travellers on the 4, 5, 6 and 7 metro lines.
“The quality of a city’s public realm reflects the level of civic pride and has a direct impact on the quality of everyday life,” said Norman Foster. “With the advent of the Long Island Rail Road East Side Access, along with the plan to re-zone the district, there has never been a better opportunity to tackle the issues of public access and mobility around one of the greatest rail terminals in the world.”
Here’s some more information from Foster + Partners:
Foster + Partners re-imagines Grand Central Terminal for 2013 Centenary
Norman Foster presented proposals for a masterplan to bring clarity back to Grand Central Terminal at The Municipal Art Society of New York’s annual Summit in New York last night.
Masterplan – click above for larger image
Grand Central Terminal is one of New York’s greatest landmarks and contains perhaps the city’s finest civic space. However, over time it has become a victim of its own success. A building designed to be used by 75,000 people per day now routinely handles ten times that number with up to a million on peak days.
The result is acute overcrowding; connections to the rail and subway lines beneath the concourse are inadequate; and the arrival and departure experience is poor. Added to that, the surrounding streets are choked with traffic and pedestrians are marginalised. The rapid growth of tall buildings in the vicinity has all but consumed the Terminal.
Within the station, the proposal creates wider concourses, with new and improved entrances. Externally, streets will be reconfigured as shared vehicle/pedestrian routes, and Vanderbilt Avenue fully pedestrianised. The proposal also creates new civic spaces that will provide Grand Central with an appropriate urban setting for the next 100 years.
Wider masterplan
The 42nd street entrance to the south, where access is severely constrained, will be widened to fill the entire elevation by using existing openings, thus greatly easing accessibility. The access via tunnels on the northern approach from Park Avenue will be rebalanced in favour of pedestrians by creating grander, enlarged underground spaces through the Helmsley building. Lexington Avenue to the east will be tree-lined with wider sidewalks and will benefit from more prominent and enhanced tunnel access to Grand Central Terminal. The idea already mooted to pedestrianise Vanderbilt Avenue to the west would be extended. The street would be anchored to the south by a major new enlarged civic space between 43rd Street and the west entrance to the Terminal and to the north by a plaza accommodating new entrances to the East Side Access lines. Trees, sculpture and street cafes will bring life and new breathing space to Grand Central Terminal.
At platform and concourse levels where congestion is particularly acute for travellers on the 4, 5, 6 and 7 lines, we will radically enlarge the connecting public areas, to address the huge increase in passenger traffic in the last 100 years. This will transform the experience for arriving and departing commuters and passengers. A generous new concourse will be created beneath the west entrance plaza on Vanderbilt Avenue connecting directly into the main station concourse.
This visionary masterplan with its focus on pedestrians and travellers will allow Grand Central Terminal to regain the civic stature that it deserves as a major New York landmark and an appropriate twenty-first century transport hub.
A semi-circular vaulted concourse designed by British architects John McAslan + Partners will open at King’s Cross Station in London next week.
The architects, who have been progressing a masterplan for the railway station since 1998, have fully restored the five buildings that comprise the western elevation to serve as a backdrop to the new glazed entrance hall.
The criss-crossing steel structure unfurls like a tree from columns in front of this elevation and folds down around the space.
Departing passengers will be able to access the eight existing platforms in the main train shed, as well as one new one, directly through the new two-storey hall instead of beneath the temporary canopy currently in front of the building.
The architects plan to remove this structure during the next phases of construction to create a new public square.
Here’s some more information from John McAslan + Partners:
TRANSFORMING KING’S CROSS – LONDON’S HISTORIC STATION ACQUIRES A CONTEMPORARY TWIST
The new Western Concourse at King’s Cross opens to the public on Monday 19th March 2012.
“The transformation of King’s Cross station by John McAslan + Partners represents a compelling piece of place-making for London. The show-piece is clearly the Western Concourse – Europe’s largest single span station structure and the heart of the development, but the overall project is far more complex: an extraordinary, collaborative effort that has delivered an internationally significant transport interchange, fit for the 21st century and beyond.
We are very proud of our role as lead architects and master-planners of the King’s Cross redevelopment, and it’s immensely satisfying to see the project delivered on time, ready for the capital’s celebration of the London Olympics later this year.” John McAslan, Chairman John McAslan + Partners
With this multi-phased development now complete, the significance of the King’s Cross Station redevelopment is finally revealed. The transformation of King’s Cross Station for Network Rail involves three very different styles of architecture: re-use, restoration and new build. The train shed and range buildings have been adapted and re-used, the station’s previously obscured Grade I listed façade is being precisely restored, and a new, highly expressive Western Concourse has been designed as a centrepiece and the ‘beating heart’ of the project. When the station opens to the public next Monday, 19 March, King’s Cross will become a new, iconic architectural gateway to the city, ready for the 2012 London Olympics.
John McAslan + Partners began work on the project in 1998 and established the overall master-plan for the development in 2005. As a result the practice has played a key role in the wider transformation of the King’s Cross area – infrastructural, social and commercial changes that now connect the station with the massive King’s Cross Central scheme north of the station as well as to St Pancras, the London Underground, and the surrounding urban context. The architectural ambition of JMP’s scheme has been to create a new iconic landmark that will function as a key catalyst for the ongoing regeneration of this new London quarter as well as providing striking new facilities that will accommodate the 50 million passengers now passing through the station each year.
WESTERN CONCOURSE
The centrepiece of the £547m redevelopment is the new vaulted, semi-circular concourse to the west of the existing station. The concourse rises some 20m and spans the full 150m-length of the existing Grade I Listed Western Range, creating a new entrance to the station through the south end of the structure and at mezzanine level to the northern end of the Western Concourse.
The 7,500sqm concourse has become Europe’s largest single-span station structure, comprising of 16 steel tree form columns that radiate from an expressive, tapered central funnel. The graceful circularity of the concourse echoes the form of the neighbouring Great Northern Hotel, with the ground floor of the hotel providing access to the concourse. The Western Concourse sits adjacent to the façade of the Western Range, clearly revealing the restored brickwork and masonry of the original station. From this dramatic interior space, passengers access the platforms either through the ground level gate-lines in the Ticket Hall via the Western Range building, or by using the mezzanine level gate-line, which leads onto the new cross–platform footbridge.
Located above the new London Underground northern ticketing hall, and with retail elements at mezzanine level, the concourse will transform passenger facilities, whilst also enhancing links to the London Underground, and bus, taxi and train connections at St Pancras. The concourse is set to become an architectural gateway to the King’s Cross Central mixed-use developments, a key approach to the eastern entrance of St Pancras International. It will also act as an extension to King’s Cross Square, a new plaza that will be formed between the station’s southern façade and Euston Road.
WESTERN RANGE
The Western Range at King’s Cross is the historic station’s biggest component, accommodating a wide range of uses. Complex in plan, and articulated in five buildings, the practice’s considered architectural intervention has delivered greatly improved working conditions for the station staff, train-operating companies and Network Rail management teams. The Northern Wing, destroyed by bombing in World War II, has been rebuilt to its original design. The reinstatement of the Western Range also delivers key gated connections, including a new gate-line at the southern end, now the main point of connection between the Western Concourse and the platforms of the Main Train Shed.
MAIN TRAIN SHED
The station’s Main Train Shed is 250m long, 22m high and 65m wide, spanning eight platforms. The restoration includes revealing the bold architecture of the original south façade, re-glazing the north and south gables and refurbishing platforms The two barrel-vaulted roofs are currently being refurbished and lined with energy-saving photo- voltaic arrays along the linear roof lanterns, while a new glass footbridge designed by JMP extends across the Main Train Shed, replacing the old mid-shed Handyside bridge and giving access to every platform as well as the mezzanine level of the concourse.
Click above for larger image
JMP’s design integrates the main and suburban train sheds for the first time, creating a completely coherent ground- plan for passenger movements into and through the station. Improvements to the Suburban Train Shed located to the north of the Western Concourse and Western Range buildings have enhanced the operation of its three platforms (the busiest in the station during peak-hours).
Click above for larger image
The ambitious transformation of the station creates a remarkable dialogue between Cubitt’s original station and 21st- century architecture – a quantum shift in strategic infrastructure design in the UK. This relationship between old and new creates a modern transport super-hub at King’s Cross, whilst revitalising and unveiling one of the great railway monuments of Britain.
Foster + Partners have won a competition to design a high-speed rail station for the city of Ourense in northwest Spain.
A row of arched roofs will shelter the Ourense AVE Station, which together with a new park will oversail a set of existing railway tracks through the city. Glazed walls inside the station will give arriving and departing passengers a view of the landscape beyond, while a reflective ceiling will bounce light down onto the platforms below.
The proposals also include a bus station and car park that will be located underneath the station concourse. A network of pathways will cross both the station and park to reconnect disjointed routes on each side.
The proposals were completed in collaboration with engineers GOC and local architects Cabanelas Castelo.
Here’s some more information from Foster + Partners:
Foster + Partners wins competition to design Ourense AVE Station
Foster + Partners, in a joint venture with engineers, G.O.C. and Cabanelas Castelo Architects, has won an international competition to design a new high-speed rail station in the city of Ourense in Galicia, north western Spain. The design combines transport infrastructure with a new park, which will create a major new public space in the city and open up pedestrian links between the districts on each side of the tracks.
The high-speed AVE train station is located over the existing track level and integrates a bus station and parking area below. Above ground, the station’s presence is discreet and transparent, with glazed facades that allow views through to the mountains beyond. The concourse is sheltered beneath a sequence of lightweight roof canopies, which rise in a sweeping arc over the station and extend to shade the plaza and entrance to the park. The underside of the roof is reflective to bounce daylight down to the platforms, and between each canopy is a glazed, linear opening.
The park extends from the station plaza and is intersected by pools of water and a formal network of pedestrian walkways, which echo the alignment of the tracks and connect the streets of Barrio del Puente to Barrio Veintiuno.
Nigel Dancey, senior partner at Foster + Partners: “We are delighted to have been selected for our integrated design, which brings together high-speed rail and bus stations with a major new public space for the city. We look forward to working with ADIF and the City of Ourense as the project develops.”
Hyllie is the first station you reach when travelling by train from Copenhagen’s Kastrup airport and is therefore Malmö’s gateway to Copenhagen. This is no traditional station building – we have been working with other elements instead. The large round roof (diameter 45 m) – lit from below using uplights – hovers like a UFO above the station entrance. The roof is perforated by 52 round lantern lights which allow daylight to penetrate right down to the platforms, thereby eliminating any sense of an underground station. Daylight and lines of sight have acted as important parameters for creating a safe environment. The station is a regional and local train station with four tracks and two platforms. Bartenbach LichtLabor of Innsbruck are responsible for the lighting concept. The artistic decoration has been carried out by Kristina Matusch of Malmö.
Address: Hyllie Torg, Malmö Architect: Metro Arkitekter AB through Claes R Janson (resp), Ola Arnholm (project architect), Carl Kylberg, Anna-Karin Joelsson (HL), Jörgen Åkerlund. Other consultants: ÅF/ Sweco, Tyrens, Sweco Constructor: Jernhusen AB Building contractor: NCC
The new train station of Alboraya-Palmaret is built together with a big park, which stands out the new platform in a natural manner.
The park has an approximated surface of 6.000 square meters. It has seven platforms in different levels, and leads us from the street to the hall of the new station.
We can find in it rest areas, as well as children’s playground under the shadow of a large number of tress of different species.
Through the projected intervention over the old Palmaret station, we can highlight that most of the old platforms have been removed. In this way we can connect the new park with the Horchata Avenue.
Considering the indoors of the new station, two important areas have emerged. The first one, a big Hall with views to the park, leads us in a natural way to the second area, the platform, that due to its double high gives the station a great atmosphere.
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The building materials employed in the entire renovation gives the station as well as the park a modern image and constitutes the reference for the whole Alboraya district.
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Year: 2010 Development company: G.T.P. Ente Gestor de Infraestructuras Builder: Ute Metro 3 Alboraya. Ezentis. Aldesa Ortiz e Hijos Collaboration: Eg Ineco (manager engineering) Alfonso Peris (landscape) David Frutos (photography)
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