MAD unveils “Forest Station” under construction in Jiaxing, China
MAD Architects has just unveiled its design for “Forest Station”. Under construction and completed by July 1, 2021, the project is located in downtown Jiaxing, southeastern China, in the immediate vicinity of Shanghai, Hangzhou and Suzhou. Covering an area of 35.4 hectares, the intervention consists in the reconstruction of the historic station while creating a new annex of underground infrastructure. It also includes the creation of markets to the north and south and the rehabilitation of the adjacent People’s Park.
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Led by Ma Yansong, MAD Architects was inspired by the historical and cultural contexts of the city. Efficient, human-scale and abundant with natural light, the new station will generate a comfortable environment. While the main transport and commercial functions will be located in the basement, the space on the ground floor will be returned to nature, free of any infrastructure, thus creating a “station in the woods” and allowing “The People’s Park should radiate through the scheme in the city and form an urban oasis“. In fact, the project aims to implement a “park without borders” in which citizens and travelers can live and enjoy the beautiful natural environment, bringing the city center back to the people.
China’s railway stations compete to be bigger than each other. Standing tall in the city like grand palaces, they are surrounded by large main roads, imposing viaducts and often empty squares. Rather than this search for grand, monumental architecture, is it possible for city stations to create their own beautiful environment with comfortable scales and a mix of transportation and urban functions that are both efficient and humane? Is it possible that the stations are more than a stopover for passengers, but an urban public space that people can enjoy? – Ma Yansong
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To rebuild the original historic station, MAD worked closely with heritage architecture experts for a more accurate reconstruction of the historic station and its features. Upon completion, the old station building will become the Jiaxing Railway History Museum. On the other hand, the new additions, the train station, the platforms and the waiting room are hidden underground, “while the one-storey height of the building above ground level humbly respects the size of the old station building“. The bus terminals, a tram, metro, car park and taxi ranks are interconnected by the proposed scheme, creating an efficient transport portfolio accessed from the station and satisfying the demand for transport facilities created by the new commercial area.
Centered on the human scale, the underground space is open and bright. “As people move from the waiting room on platforms through a futuristic underground tunnel, they notice the old station building rebuilt above their heads.“. Moreover, the scheme places the commercial functions of the station underground, while the submerged yards connect this commercial space with the park above.
Gara Jiaxing
Jiaxing, China
2019-2021
- Typology: Transport infrastructure
- Site area: 354,000 sqm
- Construction area: approximately 280,000 sqm
- Leading partners: Ma Yansong, Dang Qun, Yosuke Hayano
- Responsible partners: Liu Huiying
- Design team: Cao Chen, Reinier Simons, Yao Ran, Fu Xiaoyi, Yu Lin, Chen Wei, He Shunpeng, Cheng Xiangju, Kaushik Raghuraman, Chen Nianhai, Deng Wei, Cao Xi, Sun Mingze, Huang Zhiyu, Zhang Kai, Li Zhengdong, Dayie Wu, Huai Wei, Claudia Hertrich, Liu Zifan, Xie Qilin, Alan Rodriguez Carrillo, Qiang Siyang, Hou Jinghui, Li Xinyun, Yin Jianfeng, Mathias Juul Frost, Lei Lei, Lu Zihao
- Client: Jiaxing Modernservice Industry Development & Investment (Group) Co., Ltd.
- Executive Architects: Tongji Architectural Design (Group) Co., Ltd., China Railway Siyuan Survey and Design Group Co., Ltd.
- Structural consultant: LERA Consulting structural engineers
- Facade consultant: RFR Shanghai
- Landscape Consultant: Z’scape Landscape Planning and Design
- Lighting Consultant: Beijing Sign Lighting Industry Group
- Signaling Consultant: NDC CHINA, Inc.
- Heritage Consultant: Shanghai Shuishi Architectural Design & Planning Corp., Ltd.
- Interior Design Consultant: Shanghai Xian Dai Architectural Decoration & Landscape Design Research Institute Co., Ltd.