CZECH REPUBLIC: The city of Brno has selected a team of Benthem Crouwel Architects and urban design company West 8 as the winner of an international competition to design a new main station in the Trnitá urban redevelopment area. Completion is envisaged in 2032-35 at a cost of €1·8bn.
‘The new station will not only be the pride of the Jižní Morava region, but also a place that passengers will really enjoy’, predicted Mojmír Nejezchleb, Deputy General Director for Railway Modernisation at infrastructure manager SŽDC.
The proposed design ‘is both grand and human, monumental and tangible’, said Benthem Crouwel partner Pascal Cornips when the winning bid was announced on July 22. He explained that the design aimed to combine references to historic public buildings with the needs of a modern intermodal hub, offering high-quality public spaces to make the redevelopment area an integral part of the city.
The station is to be built on the site of the current Brno Dolní station, around 1 km south of the existing main station in the city centre. It will have 14 platforms, with tram and urban bus stops, a regional bus station with 40 stops, and bicycle and car parking. The central concourse would ‘clearly and intuitively’ connect to two station halls where passengers will have direct sightlines to the next step in their journey, including a view of the cathedral on the skyline.
A glass canopy will collect solar energy, while the design incorporates rainwater management, the use of daylight and natural ventilation, and low temperature floor heating and cooling based on a reversible heat pump. The use of reinforced concrete will be minimised to improve the carbon footprint, with cross-laminated timber used in the roofing structures and cladding.
The development plan includes offices, housing and a hotel, as well as a waterfront park and promenade. Pedestrian routes would be ‘weaved and embedded’ into the urban fabric, to put people first and ‘untangle’ transport modes.
‘The station represents a marvellous opportunity to create a new and vibrant district in Brno’, said Martin Biewenga, partner at West 8. ‘The simple and elegant design will be the catalyst and new heart of the new city. Tree-lined boulevards connect the station with the city centre and the cathedral with the Svratka River Park’.
Companies involved in the design include Arcadis (building cost and solar energy adviser), SID (structural engineering), Goudappel (traffic consultancy) and RHDHV (water management).
