High-profile architecture firm Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) has revealed its design for a new travel center in Västerås, Sweden. The project will host much of the city's major transport infrastructure services under an eye-catching undulating roof that will also integrate sustainability features such as solar power.
The Västerås Travel Center is actually a new take on a project originally commissioned back in 2015 and will measure 16,963 sq m (roughly 182,000 sq ft). It will host a bus station, taxi station, train platforms, as well as the ticket offices, bathrooms and other facilities you'd expect in a transport hub. Elsewhere will be a cafe, a rooftop terrace area, park areas for socializing, multiple new pedestrian routes, and bicycle paths. The main idea behind the project, though, is to consolidate the city's transport infrastructure services under one roof.
"Our proposal for Västerås' new Travel Center brings together the entire city's infrastructural hub in one landscape, under one roof," explains BIG. "We propose a building that unites rather than separates functions. The roof welcomes visitors to Västerås while giving the travel center a clear identity. It is a roof that spreads out, invites from all directions, and creates spatial contexts."
As well as being partially topped with greenery, the building's roof will feature integrated solar panels that, according to ArchDaily, will generate up to 70 percent of its electricity requirements – no mean feat in the Scandinavian climate of Sweden. Additionally, it will feature rainwater capture systems, and will be kept a comfortable temperature with energy efficient underfloor heating and cooling systems. The roofline will make space for skylights and the building's facades will boast generous glazing too, maximizing daylight inside and further reducing electricity use.
The Västerås Travel Center is slated to be completed in 2025. The city is also home to C.F. Møller Architects' Kajstaden Tall Timber Building.
Source: BIG