MAD unveils “Forest Train Station” under construction in Jiaxing, China
MAD Architects has just revealed its project for the “Train Station in the Forest”. Under construction and scheduled for completion on July 1, 2021, the project is located in the center of Jiaxing, in southeastern China, close to Shanghai, Hangzhou and Suzhou. With an area of 35.4 hectares, the intervention consists of the reconstruction of the historic station and the creation of a new underground infrastructure annex. It also includes the creation of squares to the north and south and the rehabilitation of the adjacent People’s Park.
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Led by Ma Yansong, MAD Architects sought inspiration in the city’s historical and cultural contexts. Efficient, on a human scale and abundant in natural light, the new station will generate a comfortable environment. While the main transport and trade functions are located underground, the ground floor space will be returned to nature, free from any infrastructure, thus creating a “train station in the forest”, allowing “the People’s Park to radiate through the project to the city and form an urban oasis”. In fact, the project aims to create a “park without borders” where citizens and travelers can live and enjoy the beautiful natural environment, bringing the city center back to people.
China’s train stations are competing to be bigger than the others. Built in the city like great palaces, they are surrounded by great main roads, imposing viaducts and many empty squares. Instead of this search for grandiose and monumental architecture, is it possible for urban train stations to create their own beautiful environment, with comfortable scales and a mix of transport and urban functions that are efficient and humane? Is it possible that train stations are more than a stop for travelers, but an urban public space that people can enjoy? – Ma Yansong
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In order to rebuild the original historic station, MAD worked closely with experts in heritage architecture to more accurately reconstruct the historic station and its features. Upon completion, the former station building will become the Jiaxing Railway History Museum. On the other hand, the new additions, the station lobby, platforms and waiting room are hidden in the basement, “while the height of the single-storey building above ground level humbly respects the scale of the old station building”. Bus terminals, a tram line, subway, car parking and taxi stands are interconnected by the proposed scheme, creating an efficient transport portfolio accessed from the train station and meeting the demand for means of transport created by the new shopping area.
Centered on the human scale, the underground space is open and clear. “As people move from the waiting room to the platforms through a futuristic underground tunnel, they observe the old reconstructed building of the station at the top”. In addition, the scheme places the station’s commercial functions underground, while submerged patios connect this commercial space with the park above.
Jiaxing train station
Jiaxing, China
2019-2021
- Typology: Transport Infrastructure
- Site area: 354,000 m²
- Construction area: about 280,000 m²
- Main responsible partners: Ma Yansong, Dang Qun, Yosuke Hayano
- Responsible associated partners: 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 Modernservice Industry Development & Investment (Group) Co., Ltd.
- Executive architects: Tongji Architectural Design (Group) Co., Ltd., China Railway Siyuan Survey and Design Group Co., Ltd.
- Structural Consultant: LERA Consulting Structural Engineers
- Facade consultant: RFR Shanghai
- Landscape Consultant: Z’scape Landscaping and Design
- Lighting consultant: Beijing Sign Lighting Industry Group
- Signaling consultant: NDC CHINA, Inc.
- Wealth Advisor: Shanghai Shuishi Architectural Design & Planning Corp., Ltd
- Interior design consultant: Shanghai Xian Dai Architectural Decoration & Landscape Design Research Institute Co., Ltd.