The renovation of the existing Newport train station is part of an ambitious project to regenerate the city and turn it into a vibrant tourist center - so it comes as no surprise that one of the main wishes of the client was to create a landmark building on the site. The station complex has also become an extremely responsible building in terms of architecture, because Newport is the first major city on the way from London to Cardiff, the capital of Wales, and, according to the ambitious plan of local authorities, should become a kind of "visiting card" of the province as a whole.
Another important challenge facing the architects was the urban planning role of the new complex. The fact is that railway tracks have always passed through Newport: they cut the city into two practically autonomous regions, each of which developed according to its own scenario. The new station was to not only connect them to each other, but also to meet the needs of everyone in the necessary infrastructure. That is why Grimshaw designed two lobbies - one for each "bank" of the city. Outwardly, these structures are exactly the same: they have the shape of ellipses, are lined with corrugated steel and the ETFE polymer so beloved by Grimshaw, and are connected to each other by a gallery that makes a smooth bend over the paths. A descent to the ticket offices and platforms is organized from it, and the zoning system invented by the architects with the help of different colors and infographics helps to navigate the station space.
From a bird's eye view, the complex of the new station most of all resembles glasses, and the role of "bows" here are the protective fences of the railway tracks. The similarity with an optical device is enhanced by the design of the vestibule domes, each of which is crowned with an oculus. These openings, as well as the translucent walls made of ETFE, provide sufficient daylight to the station buildings. In the evening, the structure turns into a luminous "spaceship", as if hovering over the railroad tracks.
A. M.
