I think the main defect of Chinese train stations is they’re not humanized enough
They’re high and big, and not so user-friendly
They’re just duplicating each other
But a train station can totally be designed as a very comfortable and user-friendly transportation space
At first, I joined the project
As the city’s consultant
There’re lots of aspects to be renewed and improved
In the old town of Jiaxing
The old train station is at the downtown
Very close to the Nanhu Lake
The transportation and functions needed to be improved and the building was old
Then the local government decided to build a new train station
And we won the bid
All the transportation is placed under the ground
It’s a sunken train station
And the part above the ground is designed as a public area of greenery
To upgrade the old town
On the south and north sides of the rails
The square, the platform and the waiting hall are placed underground
And the city pathways also go through the same level
So they are connected to each other
It’s really convenient for passengers to transfer
Whether they come by metro, or private cars or buses
The rooftop of the waiting hall is actually on the ground
So the ceiling is quite high
And we’ve made some skylights to introduce sufficient natural lighting
If you look above
You can still see the old train station
And trains passing by
The whole space is well-lit
There’re also big trees in the platform area
The ceiling is made of anodized aluminum plate
Which is a futuristic metal
The roof is covered with solar photovoltaic panels
They power the underground and landscape designs around
There’re three underground passages
Two for passengers to get on and off
And one for the public to use
The original Jiaxing train station was built over a hundred years ago
It was bombed into oblivion during the war
It was the origin and starting point of the Jiaxing train station
So we restored the old building at full scale
To reproduce the story and the city’s history
Around 100 years ago, the attendees of the First National Congress of CPC took a train
From Shanghai to Jiaxing
They got off in the building
And concluded the congress on a boat in the Nanhu Lake
The bricks of the exterior wall are handmade
In a local old kiln in Jiaxing
With mud from the Nanhu Lake
The space on the ground is connected to the Renmin Park
The buildings on the south square look like rings
Or floating disks
The two floors underneath blend with the grassy slope
With more business opening, it will become a comprehensive urban area
Even if you don’t take a train
You would be willing to take your family and children there
It took around one year to finish the whole construction
The railways on the ground kept running during the construction
Sunken train stations are rare in China
Public concepts play a key role
We needed to persuade the railway system staff
Now they often invite their colleagues from other train stations to come here for a visit
In the future
Maybe we will see more examples of integrating the design of train stations with urban life