Renovation and Expansion of the Basel Central Station. Switzerland

Parallel to the railway tracks, the Basel central station presented the typical problems of all way stations. The proposal for its transformation restores this important piece of infrastructure with its urban role as the gateway to the city for those travelers arriving there, and as a link between adjoining neighborhoods thus far lacking direct connections.

To achieve this, the underground passages that to date connected the platforms under the railway line were replaced by a raised body, a walkway that houses shops and other services, returning to the old hall its lost prominence.

Visible from several parts of the city, the silhouette of the roof is largely responsible for the renewed image of the station, which presents itself transversal to the direction of the train, as if it were a terminal station.

The construction had to be done without interrupting the operation of the station. A concrete slab was built in the extreme south and then moved onto the platforms at the rate of one slab every three weeks.

The inclination of the roof panels -broken to define an almost topographical profile- provides each use with a specific height, thereby facilitating the agreement with the existing canopies on the platforms. With this gesture, continuity of the special sequence is maintained, transversal to the transit of travelers that characterizes the project, and that culminates in a large volume at the head on the opposite side of the existing lobby and in a new plaza over an underground parking area.