Barcelona’s new high-speed train station will become the mobility and transport hub of reference in Europe, the largest building in the city, comparable to T1 at El Prat airport, and probably the busiest. A new privileged urban territory with a wide range of mobility and infrastructures that will link up the fabrics of neighborhoods that have been disconnected until now.
The urban identity will be highlighted by the large 40-hectare linear park and the Sagrera station, the heart of the operation. It is designed to serve 100 million passengers a year and will include several stations: a high-speed train station, a suburban train station, a metro station, an intercity bus station, cab ranks, city bus and bicycle rental stations, as well as a large parking lot for private vehicles.
The station is located on the main corridor between northern and southern Europe, integrated into Spain’s advanced high-speed rail network. It will allow a double transformation of Barcelona, which will be balanced by the generation of a new major urban centrality and will acquire a powerful European regional centrality in the Mediterranean.
The main objective of the operation in which the project is inserted is to solve the traditional barrier effect of railway infrastructures in the city while maintaining the permeability and continuity of the public space. The huge new station manifests itself in the urban fabric as a park and a large pergola. The intention is to adapt to its surroundings, to become a positive contribution to the local community, both from a formal and a functional point of view. New spaces are created for the enjoyment of citizens.
The pergola that marks one of the entrances to the station, with a height of 15 meters, folds generating a direct relationship with the park, intensifying its activity and allowing the realization of outdoor events, in a new green square for the neighborhood. The relationship between the pergola and the public space generates a singular point that allows the presence of the station to be identified without interrupting the continuous development of the park.
The ends of the pergola rise up marking the accesses to the station. Although it is easily identifiable on the scale of the infrastructure, its height makes it an integrated element in the scale of the urban environment. The proposal highlights the identity of the new infrastructure from the city, maximizing its visibility and maintaining the scale of the neighborhood.
The structure, made of laminated wood, a renewable material, conveys a deep commitment to the goals of reducing the city’s carbon footprint. A system has been designed to harness solar energy through photovoltaic collectors.