The terminal is the final stage of the UNStudio masterplan for the reconstruction of the Arnhem railway station and the adjacent territory. This project is part of the renovation program for major Dutch train stations, which also includes Rotterdam, Delft and The Hague. Arnhem makes this list because of its role as an important transport hub between the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium. By 2020, the flow of passengers arriving at its station is expected to reach 110,000 people a day.
The project was commissioned by UNStudio in 1996, the first version of the terminal was presented by the architects in 2000. Despite such a long - 20-year - term, the design and implementation went on within the budget and according to the originally conceived schedule. So, in 2011 were completed
platform overlaps, also by Ben van Berkel's bureau. In parallel, a development of offices, shops and a multiplex cinema was created around the station, and the area around the station was completely transformed.
The terminal connects on its 4 aboveground and 2 underground levels waiting areas and other necessary infrastructure for trains, trolleybus and bus stops, commercial areas, a conference center, and parking.
The architects' plan was ambitious: not to "capture" the existing functions and human flows, but to provide an impetus for the development of railway architecture in general. The building creates an environment for users, making their movement convenient and "intuitive". At the same time, the project, as always in the works of UNStudio, is based on the bends of the planes, in this case it is inspired by the Klein bottle, a one-sided surface with a self-intersection line.
The urban landscape around the terminal "penetrates" into it, spaces and planes flow into one another, spans reach 60 m. a record-breaking scale for architecture.
The project budget was 37.5 million euros, the terminal area is 21,750 m2.
