Renewal of Nyugati railway station and its surroundings in Budapest (HU)

The submission recognised the key challenges posed by the complex interrelationship between the multifaceted task and the construction site, and for the most part provided thoughtful responses. In its architectural character, strength, and the design of its spaces, it displays the unique and distinctive solutions and formal features expected of a main railway station. The result of consistent planning is an ethereal, fluid hall roof and carefully detailed circulation spaces, but the same gestural system applied to all elements and scales is almost mannered – especially in the overly organic shaping of the historic hall and the urban masterplan. 

The innovative, albeit familiar (from the world of international airport architecture) form of the platform roof over the tracks, which ends in a hall, echoes the Eiffel Hall’s roof, and is elegantly connected to it. Although it appears as a huge surface within the urban landscape, its beauty compensates for this. It has the advantage of forming a smooth transition between the curved entrance zone of the surface head platforms and the less used external platform sections. The structures, colours, and materials of its interior make playful, yet respectful references to the historic building. The new hall creates an appropriately shaped, protected, and sufficiently attractive main platform and cross-axis, with a harmonious, well-scaled main façade facing the Nyugati Square, which will be a good solution both as a space wall and as an entrance sign.

The complex roof shape, however, poses a number of structural, construction, and operational challenges to which the design does not provide a satisfactory answer: the difficulties of implementing the facings are already evident in the visual plans, as the multiple curved surfaces and support structures already generate fitting problems in the virtual environment; the distorted surfaces of the pillar heads can at most be achieved by a costly and structurally disruptive process (e.g., milling); illuminators embedded between distorted surfaces with an appearance in line with the visual design can only be achieved at considerable cost. 

The Eiffel Hall would be renovated as a railway reception building, with transparent and usable interiors, according to the plan. The plant application is on an understated, believable scale. 

The modern use of materials and surfaces at the underground level of the railway station is alien to the nostalgic interior of the world above, with its combination of wood and blue powder-coated metal. There are minimal slab penetrations between the surface and the underground level, resulting in poor visual connectivity between levels and a lack of natural lighting. The ventilation of the underground levels would require an extensive mechanical system, but this is not shown within the submission.

The internal transport system is well designed, with clearly defined public transport focal points and axes. It is connected to the surrounding public spaces and the Nyugati Square underpass system with appropriate openings and well-managed entrances from all directions, and the spatial groupings and emphases for retail, services, and passenger facilities are also appropriate. The plan divides the waiting rooms and provides them in several places in the hall. Special mention should be made of the additional pedestrian crossing under the Eiffel Hall, which facilitates the connection between the underground station and the M3 metro, as well as a better passenger flow. Compared to these, the unused, sterile spaces of the intermediate gallery level, several hundred metres long, are an unworthy solution, while the design places the underground garage in a separate underground structure under the Podmaniczky Street public park in a rather unfavourable way.

From a railway operational perspective, the design meets the basic requirements of the Competition brief; both the surface and the deep-level stations are well designed. At the same time, the railway premises would be located at an unfavourable distance from the operational areas, and the technological details (such as the fixing of overhead lines) cannot be judged.

The design of the Nyugati Square is car-centric, with few green spaces, the placement of which impedes pedestrian movement. The road traffic on the Ferdinánd axis is relocated to the underpass, with a favourably conceived pedestrian-cycle bridge in its place. The large bicycle storage facility at the Podmaniczky Street is moved to a favourable location. However, the treatment of Podmaniczky Street is flawed in several respects: the proposed widening for road underpasses will disproportionately increase traffic and paved surfaces; the approach to the Ferdinánd Tunnel with perpendicular entrances and exits is liable to cause accidents; the relocation here of the underground car park from the railway station will cause a disproportionate increase in traffic. 

The gesture of “intertwining trusses”, kept throughout the entire plan, is an interesting organizing principle for the development plan, but at the same time it leads to compromises in the organization of space, both in the Nyugati Square and in the private development area. The blocks appear to follow the established street structure of District VI, but the scale of their overbuilding is exaggerated. 

The linear park starts as a prominent, full-width park next to the railway station, runs through the area, and connects to the other side of the track are on several strands, offering good reception areas for the bridges. It is a brave and correct decision to free the engine shed and the proposal of the water surface next to it. However, the Podmaniczky Street space wall formation is missing. 

The transverse connections of the area are solved by several bridges in this submission; an important connection is the Westend overpass between the Westend and the linear park. The green axis is not ideally oriented, it does not reflect upon the Lehel Square and the church, nor on Szabolcs Street. The diagonal cut through the development area towards Vágány Street is a unique and strong element of the plan. The location of the congress centre on the north side of the Ferdinánd Tunnel is advantageous, with underpass connections to the railway station.

From a green space perspective, this plan is one of the most imaginative: it envisages a complex green network throughout the entire site; its creates a green areas of sufficient size to guarantee biodiversity, which is adequately protected and yet of a satisfactory size, meeting the requirements of the design plan. 

The Evaluation Committee has recommended the submission for the 3rd prize for its strong and coherent conceptual content.