Rail infrastructure has a tendency to split cities into two, beyond just its physical route. A station in Denmark, however, will use clever design to negate any such sense of separation. Vinge Train Station will use an undulating concourse that allows the city to flow seamlessly across the tracks.
The train station has been designed by city masterplan project veterans Henning Larsen Architects. The firm explains that the Vinge Train Station development is part of a larger plan for connecting the future city. Vinge is new city that will be built to the north of Copenhagen and will be the largest urban development project in Denmark. The S-train is seen as a key feature of the city, connecting it to the surrounding areas.
The aim of the station is, of course, to facilitate the easy coming-and-going of those moving in and out of the city. Situated in the center of Vinge, it has also been designed with the aim of pulling the city together and allowing for the easy movement of people within the city.
The main facet of the station will be its circular design, which will undulate to provide the necessary thoroughfares. It will appear almost as though a ring has been laid across the top of the station, touching down on either side of the tracks and merging into the ground to create open spaces for movement between the platform edges and the rest of the city. The ring will then rise as it swings around and above the train line, ensuring there is clearance for trains and that people can move freely across the tracks.
This design will give Vinge Train Station the sense of being one large open concourse that is raised in certain places. It will allow freedom of movement, providing people with a more organic means of moving around the area than being siphoned through a single bridge or tunnel.
The station has also been designed in such a way as to reduce the impact of wind on the station, with part-covered platforms to provide shelter from the elements and gutters for rainwater so as to minimize the chance of people slipping on wet surfaces.
Vigne Train Station is expected to be completed by 2017, whilst the construction of Vinge city is expected to run through to 2033.
Source: Henning Larsen Architects