Indian Railway Stations Development Corporation Limited (IRSDC)
2nd Prize - Students Category Nagpur Railway station
International Design Competition, 2017
International Design Competition, 2017
Dec 2017 . New Delhi
Team
Bhavya Godara
Kiran Babu
Shravan Kumar
Manasa Nandini
Considering the variety of design challenges the station provided. The primary context that we found ourselves needing to respond to is as follows:
1. Upcoming metro
2. Suspension bridge across the tracks
3. Heritage nature of existing station building.
4. Elevated road adjacent to the current station building on the west
5. State Bus Depot along the South-western edge.
6. Railways hospital
7. Cotton Market along the eastern part of the site, adjoining the Central Business District Building.
PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION
Before designing, the fifirst exercise was problem and need identifification. Where do our railway stations fall short? What are the biggest passenger inconveniences? How does a station respond to its surrounding activities? From our analysis, our biggest takeaways were:
1. The large volume of passengers that existing stations are unable to service
2. Diffificulty in maintenance and management due to many station buildings not being designed originally as stations.
3. Ad-hoc expansion that results in chaotic movement and navigation patterns
4. Most stations exist as barriers in the city, dividing it on two sides across the site.
5. Confusing vehicular circulation and parking.
6. Lack of integration with the intra city transit options.
VEHICULAR CIRCULATION
A clean and functional system of roads for internal vehicular circulation, keeping the arrival and departures drop-offs at different levels (+0 and +6000mm respectively) reducing the congestion. Strict imposition of One-Way traffific, avoiding bottlenecks and traffific short circuits. Shifting the main terminal of the station to the Eastern Edge, along Cotton Market road, to ease access and reduce loads on the existing suspension bridge.
MULTI-MODAL INTEGRATION
A direct connection into the station from the upcoming metro station (at +11000mm lvl), encouraging the use of public transit to arrive and depart. We expect a Bus stop to come up right below the metro station, allowing for easy pedestrian access to station. A pedestrian link to the station from the State and Private Bus Depot to the South West.
REVENUE
Retail is an important revenue producing sector for the railway department. Retail functions have been zoned along the Cotton Market Road, as well as within the station. Easily visible and accessed stores and food and beverage outlets at the metro entry level and the station concourse level tap into retail opportunities from waiting passengers. Well connected accommodation, dormitory and hospitality areas within the site allow for leveraging passenger staying needs. Rent from office blocks located in the larger land parcel in the North-West.
SPATIAL EXPERIENCE
Spanning over all the station components, the design envisions a large span lightweight roofing system, allowing for plenty of natural light and ventilation within the station. It’s dynamic form is aimed at impressing the station into user memories as an iconic part of the city.
NAVIGATION
One of the most interesting innovations in the design is the way passengers arriving into the city are immediately shifted from the platforms into a “deck” level running above the trains(at +6500mm lvl), meant exclusively for arrival passengers. The platforms are solely meant for departing and waiting passengers. This ensures minimum conflict between people boarding trains and those exiting them. The design advocates maximum use of escalators and elevators, in keeping with the world class brief.
SERVICING
All goods and services are meant to enter the station through a basement level on the Eastern edge. From this basement, multiple corridors run below the platforms, exiting at locations on each platform ideal for loading food into pantry cars and goods and parcels into luggage cars.
