European Steel Design Award 2013

The future of train travel revealed as Arnhem Central Station opens after 20-year development

The new €37.5m (£27.6m) Transfer Terminal at Arnhem Central Station in the Netherlands has now completed.

The station is the result of an ambitious 20-year project – masterplanned by UNStudio – to redevelop the wider station area; the largest post-war development in Arnhem. Backed by the Dutch government, this transfer hub rewrites the rulebook on train stations and is the most complex of its type in Europe. The station will become the new ‘front door’ of the city, embracing the spirit of travel, and is expected to establish Arnhem as an important node between Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. The new terminal houses commercial areas, and a conference centre and provides links to the nearby office plaza, city centre, underground parking garage and the Park Sonsbeek. The area around the station will become a place in of itself, with 160,000m2 of offices, shops and a cinema complex.

The 21,750m2 Transfer Terminal features a dramatic twisting structural roof geometry, which enables column-free spans of up to 60m in the transfer hall. Taking references from the continuous inside/outside surface of a Klein Bottle, UNStudio aimed to blur distinctions between the inside and outside of the terminal by continuing the urban landscape into the interior of the transfer hall, where ceilings, walls and floors all seamlessly transition into one another. The structure of the roof and twisting column was only made possible by abandoning traditional construction methods and materials; much lighter steel replaced concrete – originally intended for the station – and was constructed using boat building techniques on a scale never before attempted.

Delivery of such a complex and lengthy project on time, on budget and without design compromise required the courage and determination of both the client, ProRail B.V. and the architects. It is also the result of an exceptional collaborative endeavour by the key stakeholders, ProRail, Contractor Combination Ballast Nedam – BAM, the Ministry of Infrastructure and the Arnhem City Council.

UNStudio began the masterplan in 1996 and completed its first sketch design for the Transfer Terminal back in 2000. After intensively researching passenger flows and transportation modes, UNStudio proposed that the new terminal should expand to become a ‘transfer machine’ that incorporates the whole spectrum of public transport, meeting the travel demands of the 21st century. Working with structural engineers Arup, a space without columns was produced, forming an architectural expression designed around the ways people will intuitively use the space. The station works on international, national and regional levels, allowing passengers to move between cities intuitively and with ease. This project is part of a countrywide railway upgrade that will see new stations in Rotterdam, Delft, The Hague, Breda and Utrecht.

“Arnhem Central is no longer just a train station. It has become a transfer hub. We wanted to give a new and vital impetus to station design, so rather than merely designing the station around the activities and people flows that already took place there, the expanded architecture of the new Transfer Terminal directs and determines how people use and move around the building” said Ben van Berkel, founder and principal architect of UNStudio.

“To keep all stakeholders on board and on the right track during the long journey to completion was a real challenge” said Karin van Helmond, Project Manager Station Development at ProRail. “In the past twenty years many things changed in the economy, technology, politics and social environment. By focusing on our ultimate goal, the actual building of this magnificent station, we succeeded in overcoming all setbacks and risks and by working closely together we got this unprecedented job done”.

Integrating the naturally sloping landscape distinctive to Arnhem, UNStudio conceived the Transfer Terminal as a flowing, utilitarian landscape of different functions stacked up to four storeys above ground and two below. The key space is the 5,355m2 main Transfer Hall, topped with a dynamic, undulating roof form.

In the development of the design, the practice used a series of conceptual structural tools to mold the geometry of the terminal landscape to accommodate the different programme functions. These include the use of ‘V-walls’, a load-bearing concrete structure that absorbs the differences in the required grids and provides daylight to the below ground levels. The spaces between these elements also form the public access from the underground car park to the other components.

In 2001, Arnhem Central acquired the status from the Dutch Government as of one of the ‘New Key Projects’ (station areas of national importance). These stations should function as catalysts for urban renewal and economic growth. It is anticipated that the new Transfer Terminal, which replaces a 1950s train station, will facilitate economic growth by enabling a vastly increased daily passenger flow to the city of 110,000 commuters per day in 2020.

Programme: Public transport terminal
Building surface: 21.750 m2 (gross floor area)
Building volume: ca. 90.000 m3
Building site: ca. 11.250 m2
Status: Opening in November 2015

Public Transport Terminal
1998 – 2015

Client: ProRail B.V.

UNStudio: Ben van Berkel with Arjan Dingsté
and Misja van Veen, René Toet, Marc Hoppermann, Kristoph Nowak, Tobias Wallisser, Nuno Almeida, Rein Werkhoven, Marc Herschel, Sander Versluis, Derrick Diporedjo, Ahmed El-Shafei, Matthew Johnston, Juliane Maier, Daniel Gebreiter, Kirstin Sandner




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Transfer Zone Arnhem comprises a coherent plan for the station area. The expansion generates 80.000 square metres of office space, 11.000 square metres of shops, 150 housing units, a new station hall, a fourth railway platform, a railway underpass, a car tunnel, storage for 5.000 bicycles and a garage for 1.000 cars.

Bus terminal and train station are combined into a new type of complex - an integrated public transportation area. The area is organised as a roofed-over, climate-controlled plaza that interconnects and gives access to trains, taxis, buses, bikes, parking, office spaces and the town centre. The new identity of the station area acknowledges the regional significance of Arnhem. More than 65.000 people pass through it every day; for many visitors the town starts here. With its central bus stops for regional and local buses and parking facilities, the station area forms the main entrance to the town. This accentuates the need for good connections to the old centre. Equally important is the urban quality of the area itself for the people who work, wait, change buses or trains, meet and shop here daily.

Transfer zone Arnhem focuses on the finding of overlapping areas of shared parameters and common values. Pedestrian movement, which is the one element that concerns every party involved in the redevelopment of the location, forms that shared element. Movement studies therefore are the cornerstone of the proposal: the analysis of the types of movement on location includes the directions of the various trajectories, their prominence in relation to other forms of transportation on the site, duration, links to different programmes, and interconnections.

The intersection of different traffic systems is reduced to a minimum to optimise pedestrian accessibility to all facilities. Light falls through from above onto the lower entrances to the station, garage and offices and creates clear and lengthy vision lines, aiding pedestrian orientation and wayfinding. Work with investors on the development of a 24-hour programme contributes to an active and safe location. Pedestrian movements, transport systems, light, construction and the distribution of the programme are fused in one continuous landscape.

Program: masterplan station area with infrastructure including two tunnels. Transfer hall including parking, bus terminal, retail, and offices

Gross floor surface:
Transfer hall: 6.000 m²
Underground parking: 44.000 m²
Bus terminal: 7.500 m²
Park and Rijn office towers 22.000 m²
K4 & K5 offices: 15.665 m²
Capacity: Transfers per day 110.000
Completion date: 2008

Client: Municipality of Arnhem

Design: UNStudio in collaboration with Cecil Balmond (Arup)
UNStudio: Ben van Berkel with Tobias Wallisser and Sibo de Man

Masterplan study: Ben van Berkel, Freek Loos, Peter Trummer, Henk Bultstra, Cees Gajentaan, John Rebel, Andreas Krause

Masterplan: Ben van Berkel, Tobias Wallisser, Sibo de Man, Henk Bultstra, Edgar Bosman, Astrid Piber, Oliver Bormann, Yuko Tokunaga, Ulrike Bahr, Ivan Hernandez

Transfer Hall: Ben van Berkel, Tobias Wallisser with Arjan Dingsté, Nuno Almeida and Marc Herschel, Rein Werkhoven, Matthew Johnston, Sander Versluis, Misja van Veen, Derrick Diporedjo, Marc Hopperman, Ahmed El-Shafei, Daniel Gebreiter, Uli Horner, Freddy Koelemeijer, Wouter Hilhorst, Maartje van Dehn, Kirstin Sandner, Elisabeth Beusker

Bus deck: Ben van Berkel, Sibo de Man, Tobias Wallisser, Jacco van Wengerden, Jacques van Wijk, Nuno Almeida, Paul Vriend, Phillip Koelher, Marco Hemmerling

Parking: Ben van Berkel, Sibo de Man, Tobias Wallisser, Jacques van Wijk, Ton van den Berg, Nuno Almeida, , Jacco van Wengerden, Mark Westerhuis, Matthew Johnston, Marc Herschel, Paul Vriend, Eli Aschkenasy, Remko van Heumen

Tunnel: Ben van Berkel, Freek Loos, Ger Gijzen, Jacques van Wijk, John Rebel

Advisors:
Engineering: Arup, Amsterdam
Structure: Van der Werf & Lankhort, Arnhem


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Arnhem Central - Platform Roofs

Arnhem Central converts several regional routes and high speed trains to Germany. As passenger numbers will continue to grow, the railway infrastructure is being substantially revitalized. On the train station level a new 4th platform will be added and all current platform roofs will be replaced. The design concept for the new platform roofs provides a sense of light and space. Large roof lights, which together with the structural spans, add to a positive experience of the transfer platforms and surroundings. The elevated footbridge is fully integrated in the design, connecting the different platforms with each other and with the north entrance of the train station. The electrified system has also been integrated into the roof structure, giving a uniform appearance across all platforms.

Use: Platform roofs with integrated elevated footbridge for (high speed) train station
Gross Roof Area: approximately 8700 m2
Dimensions: 4 platform roofs of approximately 210 metres long, with varying widths from 9-14 metres
Structure and materials: steel, aluminum and cold formed glass roofs
Start of construction: 2009
Completion date: 2012

Client: ProRail, Utrecht

Credits:
UNStudio, Ben van Berkel with Arjan Dingsté and Marc Hoppermann, Marc Herschel, Derrick Diporedjo, Kristin Sandner, Rein Werkhoven

Advisors:
Engineering: Movares
Contractor: BAM-Dura Vermeer

Design masterplan: 1996-1998; parking: 1997-1998; tunnel: 1997-1998
Construction masterplan: 1997-2007; parking: 1998-2002; tunnel: 1998- 1999;
Actual state masterplan: def. design; parking, platforms, tunnel: realised. Transfer terminal due for realisation in 2015.