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.
"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," commented Nigel Dancey, senior partner at Foster + Partners. "We look forward to working with ADIF and the City of Ourense as the project develops."