‘Basel SBB’ railway Station

Basel, Switzerland

Stations

Architects: Cruz y Ortiz

Location: Basel, Switzerland
Year: 2003
Client: Basel SBB

Transformation and extension

Basilea Station showed the typical problems of all stop-and-go train stations that stand parallel to railway lines. The proposal for its transformation assigns this important piece of infrastructure its new urban role: as a gate for travellers that reach the city and as a connection between neighbourhoods that until now had no direct link.

To make this possible, the underpasses that up to this date had joined the platforms beneath the railway, have been replaced by raised footbridges that house shops and other facilities, giving the old lobby back its lost prominence. The silhouette of the roof can be seen from various spots in the city, and it will play the leading part in the renovation of the station’s image, which will appear across the train tracks, as if it were a final destination point.

The construction had to be done without interrupting the normal operations of the station. Concrete slab was built in teh south end of the station and the moved onto the platforms at the rate of one slab every three weeks.

Its slanted planes –broken into almost topographic profiles- give each functional area a specific height and converge with the existing canopies that shelter the platforms. In this way, the roof maintains the continuity of the spacial sequence that is transversal to the flow of passengers and which ends in another main hall on the opposite side of the platforms.