MAD launches “train station in the forest” under construction in Jiaxing, China
MAD Architects just announced the design of its “Forest Railway Station”. The project is located in the center of Jiaxing in southeastern China, close to Shanghai, Hangzhou and Suzhou. It is under construction and is scheduled to be completed on July 1, 2021. The intervention covers an area of 35.4 hectares and includes rebuilding the historic station while creating new infrastructure annexes underground. It also includes the creation of squares in the north and south and the restoration of the neighboring People’s Park.
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MAD Architects, led by Ma Yansong (Ma Yansong), drew inspiration from the historical and cultural background of the city. Efficient, user-friendly and abundant in natural light, the new station will produce a comfortable environment. Although the main transportation and commercial functions are located in the underground level, the underground space will be returned to nature without being affected by any infrastructure, thus creating a “train station” in the forest and allowing “The People’s Park radiates to the city through the plan and forms an urban oasisIn fact, the project aims to create a “Borderless Park” where citizens and travelers can live and enjoy the beautiful natural environment, bringing the city center back to people.
China’s railway stations are competing to be each other’s bigger railway stations. They stand like grand palaces in the city, surrounded by wide main roads, viaducts and empty squares. In addition to pursuing magnificent monumental buildings, is it possible for urban railway stations to create their own beautiful environment, comfortable scale, and integrated efficient and humanized transportation and urban functions? Is it possible that a railway station is not just a stopover for travelers, but a public space in the city that people can enjoy? -Ma Yansong
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In order to reconstruct the original historical station, MAD worked closely with heritage architecture experts to more accurately reconstruct the historical station and its functions. Upon completion, the old station building will become the Jiaxing Railway History Museum. On the other hand, new additional facilities, station halls, platforms and waiting halls are hidden underground, “The single-story height of the building above the ground modestly respects the scale of the old station buildingThe proposed scheme interconnects bus stations, trams, subways, parking lots and taxi stands, thereby creating an efficient transportation product portfolio that can be accessed from the railway station and meeting the needs for transportation facilities in the new business district .
Centered on the human scale, the underground space is open and bright. “When people moved from the waiting hall to the platform through a futuristic underground tunnel, they observed the top of the reconstructed old station buildingIn addition, the plan places the commercial function of the station underground, while a sunken courtyard connects the commercial space with the park above.
Jiaxing Railway Station
Jiaxing, China
2019-2021
- Type: Transportation Infrastructure
- Area: 354,000 square meters
- Building area: about 280,000 square meters
- Main person in charge: Ma Yansong, Dang Qun, Qu Ye Yosuke
- Partner in charge: Liu Huiying
- Design Team: Cao Chen, Reinier Simons, Yao Ran, Fu Xiaoyi, Yu Lin, Chen Wei, He Shunpeng, Cheng Xiangju, Kaushik Raghuraman, Chen Nianhai, Deng Wei, Cao Xi, Sun Mingze, Huang Zhiyu, Zhang Kai, Li Zhengdong , Dayie Wu, Huai Wei, Claudia Hertrich, Liu Zifan, Xie Qilin, Alan Rodríguez Carrillo, Qiang Siyang, Hou Jinghui, Li Xinyun, Yin Jianfeng, Mathias Juul Frost, Lei Lei, Lu Zihao
- Client: Jiaxing Modern Service Industry Development Investment (Group) Co., Ltd.
- Executive architect: Tongji Architectural Design (Group) Co., Ltd., China Railway Fourth Institute Survey and Design Group Co., Ltd.
- Structural consultant: LERA Consulting structural engineer
- Exterior wall consultant: RFR Shanghai
- Landscape Consultant: Z’scape Landscape Planning and Design
- Lighting Consultant: Beijing Sign Lighting Industry Group
- Signage Consultant: NDC CHINA, Inc.
- Heritage Consultant: Shanghai Marine Engineering Design and Planning Co., Ltd.
- Interior design consultant: Shanghai Modern Architecture Decoration Garden Design Research Institute Co., Ltd.
