Guangzhou East Railway Station, Shenzhen Architecture, Architect, Images
Guangzhou East Railway Station in Shenzhen
Public Square and Passenger Facilities in China design by Architectural design and Research Institute of SCUT
9 Jun 2017
Guangzhou East Railway Station Public Square and Passenger Facilities
Design: Architectural design and Research Institute of SCUT
Location: Shenzhen, southeastern China
Public Square and Passenger Facilities Renovation of Guangzhou East Railway Station
Photos: Liky Lam
The story starts with a simple question: What are the roles of urban landscapes in rapid urbanization process of China?
Located at the north end of the central axis, Guangzhou East Railway Station is one of the biggest railway terminals in China. The old station building, constructed in the Mid 90’s, was suffered from poor organizations of circulations, light and ventilation.
Before renovation, numerous people and vehicles flows had to squeeze under a dark concrete panel to enter the station. Above the panel however, there was an abandoned platform, giant in scale, empty with people, without the quality of a public space it supposed to have.
Winning the bid for Asia Game 2010 offered Guangzhou an opportunity to “upgrade the landmark”. What we decided to do was to optimize the environment with elements of artificial landscape, in order to gradually repair the public spaces.
Several openings are cut on the floor to allow natural lights to enter to the ground. The main entrance is then shifted from ground floor to the upper level. Then, a “canopy of light” is intervened to cover the space. It’s a curved glass roof erected from the existing structural grid. The shelter protects pedestrians from suns and rains.
Its irregular form is generated through computational analyses. All metal elements are modular, prefabricated in local factories and composed on site. The approximately 8,000 m2 areas satisfying relatively high level of precision were finished in only 6 months.
This wasn’t the end of the story. Six years after the Asian Games a new round of renovation restarted. This time smaller elements were put on to shrink down the scale: A loop-shape kiosk accommodated informal commercial activities. Beneath the roof, translucent curtains guaranteed safety and improve efficiency of the sunshades. With public activities coming back, we have witness the public spaces are now in its recovery.
Through the practice, we hope to redefine the role of infrastructural project in China: it works as a link between people and city, incorporating functionality, comfort, climate solutions, public spaces… And in the end, becomes part of urban environment.
Innovative design ideas
Standing on the central axis of Guangzhou, the project is decorated with Guangzhou’s cityscape as its backdrop. The aims of the project, started from 2009, is to meet the functional requirements of the railway station, and to upgrade this area into a more human-oriented and efficient gateway. There must be new and multi-layered roles, such as a node for tourism, recreations and commercials.
The specific design not only reorganizes and optimizes the programs, but also takes furthers steps in the experiences, sustainability and architectural aesthetics, in order to improve the quality of environment with urban strategies.
In 2017, there is a new round of renovation to be launched. To shrink down the enormous scale, more small elements are added. With more and more public activities reappears, the public space is now in its recovery.
Guangzhou East Railway Station in Shenzhen – Building Information
Project name: Public Square and Passenger Facilities Renovation of Guangzhou East Railway Station
Project location: 510610/No. 1 East Tianhe District Road, Guangzhou, China
Design company: Architectural design and Research Institute of SCUT
Principle architects: Fang Deng, Sheng Xia, Yimin Sun
Structural Engineer: Xiaodan Fang, Wenjun Lei
MEP Consultant: Fei Gao, Plumbing: Cailing Guan, Shuangqun Ma
Lighting consultant: Shenzhen NVC Co. Ltd.
Quantity surveyor: Huazhong Zhou
Main contractor: China Railway Construction Group Co., Ltd.
Selected subcontractors: Zhejiang Jinggong Steel Structure Group Co., Ltd.
Public square renovation (phase 1)
Design period: 4 months
Gross floor area (sqm)：8,500
Construction kick-off: 2010.06.05
Date of completion: 2010.09.28
Client: Guangzhou Railway (Group) Co., Ltd, Guangzhou Urban Construction Investment Group Co., Ltd.
Passenger facilities renovation (phase 2)
Design period: 2 months
Gross floor area (sqm)：8,500
Construction kick-off: 2010.10
Date of completion: 2017.01
Client: Guangshen Railway Co, Ltd.
Photographer: Liky Lam
Guangzhou East Railway Station in Shenzhen images / information received 090617
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