As part of a large-scale renovation of the country's busiest train stations, the concrete building of The Hague Central Station, built in the 70s, was demolished and replaced with a completely transparent glass box. A simple and rigid form has a base that significantly exceeds the area of a football field: 120 mx 96 m. The height of the building is 22 m, and the total area is 20,000 sq. flyover), light rail intercity lines of the Randstadrail network, national and European high-speed trains (at the bottom), as well as a nearby bus station. Not without, of course, small shops and comfortable waiting areas.
The station has four exits at once, which made it possible to connect with its help the city center and the modern financial district of Beatrikskwartier. The resulting city square - this is how architects interpret their project - is covered with a glass roof supported by eight slender columns.
The entire space of the roof is lined with structures into even rhombuses with repeating plates in the center of each cell. They are an important decorative and technical element, as they create a slightly theatrical light and shadow play in the interior space, protect from excess sun and overheating, and improve the acoustic characteristics of the terminal. Finally, the plates open automatically, as they are involved in the operation of ventilation and smoke removal systems.
The result is a clear, almost unified space that is easy to read from any point, which means that it should be easy for passengers to navigate in it, even if the active work of the authorities on the development of the railway network will lead to a planned double increase in passenger traffic in the coming years. After all, The Hague is already the second after
Rotterdam is the city where Benthem Crouwel is completely renovating the train station. Next in line is Utrecht.
