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TFP Farrells is proud to announce that Beijing South Station has won the prestigious Royal Institute of British Architects 2009 International Award. This follows the news that the Farrells designed Incheon Airport in Korea was recently awarded as the world’s best airport.
Designed by Farrells’ Hong Kong office with the Third Railway Survey and Design Institute Group, the station is one of a growing portfolio of impressive transportation and infrastructure projects designed by Farrells around the world. The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) International Awards are given each year to the most outstanding projects across the globe by a British architectural practice. The RIBA is the UK body for architecture and the architectural profession, in which 2009 marks the 175th anniversary of its founding.
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“We are extremely proud of the design and construction of Beijing South Station. This complex landmark project was a combination of efficiency, contemporary place-making and forward thinking; winning the RIBA 2009 International Award is testament to the international collaboration and highly skilled team that created this world-class transportation hub,” stated Stefan Krummeck, Director TFP Farrells.
Completed in 2008 the new Beijing South Railway Station is one of four major railway stations for the new high-speed rail network implemented within China. It was a core Olympic project endorsed by the Beijing Government and a critical part of upgrading and extension of the previous existing facility. Situated on a 320,000m2 site, approximately half a kilometre from the city’s old station in Fengtai district, between the second and third ring roads, the station serves as a high-speed intercity rail link connecting Beijing with the Yangtze River Delta cities of Tianjin and Shanghai, with a catchment area of 270 million people.
The Station is designed for an annual passenger turnover of 105 million, 286,500 daily and a peak hourly flow of 33,280, by the year 2030. Immense in scale, the stations’ architectural form and structure is designed to be clear, simple and people oriented; it takes into consideration the different operational and management of its various rail lines, station entrances, exits, waiting areas and interchange zones. A simple ellipse form it accommodates three principle levels, with two mezzanine levels for car-parking and two ancillary gateway buildings. With such large volumes of passengers it is essential to separate the incoming and departing passengers. One of the main design objectives was to have the passengers board and alight trains within the shortest distance and time possible.
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The design strategy also incorporated separate zones to cater for seamless integration and transition to different types of vehicles. This includes 909 underground basement car-parking spaces, 28 taxi drop-off and 24 taxi pickup bays with 138 queuing spaces and 38 bus spaces (12 drop-off spaces and 26 pick-up bays with 48 queuing spaces) as a comprehensive multi-modal transport interchange. The elliptical plan provides an effective and innovative solution to the station’s vehicular traffic flow. The overhead road network system adjusts to the traffic flowing to and from the station and assists in relieving the congestion of the surrounding urban arterial roads.
For the trains themselves there are a total of 11 island platforms and two side platforms, making up 24 platform edges for high-speed trains (450m long), normal trains and suburban trains (550m long); and two island platforms with four platform edges for the metro trains (120m long) in the Basement Level.
In order to create an innovative and dynamic landmark structure, a large iconic roof was incorporated into the station design. This enormous symmetrical roof is broken down into three parts: a large central roof and two side canopies which provide a rhythm to the internal spaces. The station reflects its importance and cultural significance in the city as a public building with its elegant appearance and grand presence. This is a modern interpretation of the up-turned hip roofs, a Chinese cultural and architectural motif that’s with inspiration derived from the temple of Heaven, 3km east of the site.
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The roof is an innovative lightweight structure with an inherent structurally sound rigid frame which requires tensile wire members to prevent up-lift created by wind loads and is calculated to withstand local snow loads and sand storms. The canopy roofs are permeable to open air for natural ventilation and to minimize operational costs whilst the central roof area is fully enclosed to accommodate departing and arriving passengers within the two waiting areas. The 350m long, 190m wide central roof is supported by a total of 60 raked columns arranged around the perimeter of the departure level. The largest column span within the central roof area is 70m wide — enough to accommodate a Boeing 747-400 aircraft.
Sir Terry Farrell concluded, “The RIBA International Award is, I believe, a strong affirmation of the now long established architectural and town planning skills that we have and are bringing to schemes in China and the wider Pacific region. Beijing South Station is one of the many complex and very large transportation projects that we have designed and built, and we are very proud to have received this award.”