Jiaxing Train Station, photography by CreatAR Images
MAD Architects has completed Jiaxing Train Station, the firm’s first transportation infrastructure reconstruction and expansion project. Located at the center of Jiaxing, a historic city 100 kilometers southwest of Shanghai, the project replaces a dysfunctional train station that had stood at the site between 1995 and 2019.
As the urbanization of China in recent years has recently developed, so too has the hardware and technology development related to transportation infrastructure. The corresponding transportation facilities buildings, such as railway stations and new airports, however, have not improved their spatial and architectural qualities at the same rate. Train stations have instead grown far beyond the human scale, standing like imposing palaces in Chinese city centers surrounded by wide main roads, viaducts, and vast empty squares.
In response to this common trend, MAD founding partner Ma Yansong advised that “we should rethink and redefine the spatial patterns of such transportation infrastructure buildings in China. We can break away from the common pursuit of grandiose monumental buildings and make them urban public spaces with transport functions, natural ecology and cultural life, where citizens are happy to go, stay, meet, and enjoy.”
Located at the center of Jiaxing, nearby the south lake, photography by CreatAR Images
Jiaxing Train Station, photography by AC
Masterplan of Jiaxing Train Station
A new sunken train station designed with a human scale
Jiaxing Train Station was first built in 1907 and was destroyed over half a century ago. The station that was constructed in 1995 to replace the original station had an area of only 4,000 square meters and was equipped with outdated passenger facilities unsuitable for a rapidly expanding city.
MAD’s design breaks away from the usual pursuit of monumental transportation structures with a full-scale recreation of the original 1907 station, as well as a “floating” metal roof lofted above the expanded site equipped with solar panels that power the station. To pay tribute to the city’s history, architectural experts and scholars analyzed a large amount of historical data (much of which was located in the Jiaxing City Archives) to accurately reconstruct the old station house. The approximately 210,000 red and green bricks of the reconstructed station house are made of mud sourced from the nearby South Lake and other locally sourced materials.
Old Jiaxing Train Station House in 1909.
Old Jiaxing Train Station in 1921.
The old station was destroyed in 1937 during WWII.
Jiaxing Train Station, photography by AC
Jiaxing Train Station, photography by Aogvision
Jiaxing Train Station, photography by CreatAR Images
Jiaxing Train Station, photography by AC
Jiaxing Train Station, photography by Aogvision
MAD envisioned a new station that would be both more humane and efficient than its predecessor. The overall design of the interior maintains a dialogue with the recreated 1907 station through a glass facade that clearly expresses the height difference of the two structures from the entrance. The minimalist interior is clad with anodized aluminum honeycomb panels in the waiting hall, ceiling, and tunnel walls that absorb excess noise, and is lit by flood lights rather than the usual top lighting. The exhaust vents, broadcasting system, and underpass light strips are all subtly embedded into the walls.
Axonometric Diagram of Jiaxing Train Station
Jiaxing Train Station, photography by CreatAR Images
Jiaxing Train Station, photography by Aogvision
Jiaxing Train Station, photography by AC
Jiaxing Train Station, photography by AC
The new station building’s entry and exit platforms, waiting halls, and major transport and commercial functions are almost entirely taken underground, thus breaking with traditional concepts and giving birth to the “train station in the forest” design. The renovated railway station has been expanded from three platforms and five lines to three platforms and six lines, with two arrival and departure lines on each of the upstream and downstream main lines. It is expected that by 2025, the full passenger capacity will reach 5.28 million people/year, with an hourly capacity of about 2,500 people at the peak of passenger traffic.
Expanded lines, photography by ArchExist
Jiaxing Train Station, photography by CreatAR Images
Jiaxing Train Station, photography by CreatAR Images
MAD closely engaged with scholars, consultants, and experts in heritage architecture to gather data and accurately reconstruct the old station building, which will serve as the Jiaxing Railway History Museum.
A variety of transport modes have been reorganized underground to efficiently interconnect throughout the entire system. The original traffic hub in front of the station has additionally been moved underground to connect with the sunken city roads to ensure convenient travel for citizens and tourists, as well as to meet the passenger demand generated by the creation of new commercial functions across the southern portion of the site.
Axonometric Circulation Diagram of the Jiaxing Train Station
An urban oasis for citizens
By placing the busy transport hub underground, MAD's design connects to and expands an existing park. Over 1,500 trees, including beech, camphor, osmanthus, maple, sebifera, sequoia, and cherry blossom were planted across the site. The spiritual axis, which contains the recreated 1907 building, is marked with beech trees that, when fully formed, will create a canopy across the entire north square in front of the station.
The south square contains seven buildings with different functions for culture and commerce, as well as a central lawn of about one hectare that are together shaped like rolling green hills. These functional spaces, scattered above and below the hills, appear as floating rings above the earth, while the center lawn will become a venue for outdoor events such as concerts and art festivals.
Jiaxing Train Station, photography by Su Shengliang
Jiaxing Train Station, photography by Su Shengliang
MAD’s design prioritizes the emotional and spiritual needs of citizens, brings in natural landscapes, and integrates urban spaces and building volumes into nature. Through careful traffic planning and employing a vertical use of space, MAD’s scheme meets the station’s existing passenger demand while leaving room for future sustainable development and expansion. The emphasis on connectivity with the surrounding environment will also help to increase its use among the local residents by enhancing the social attributes of the district and ultimately injecting new life into the old city center. MAD foresees the project as a model for urban revitalization for Chinese cities undergoing major infrastructural development.
Jiaxing Train Station, photography by Su Shengliang
Jiaxing Train Station, photography by AC
Jiaxing Train Station
Jiaxing, China
2019-2021
Typology: Urban Renewal, Urban Planning, Transportation Infrastructure, Mixed-Use
Site Area: 354,000 sqm
Building Area: around 330,000 sqm
Principal Partners in Charge: Ma Yansong, Dang Qun, Yosuke Hayano
Associate Partners in Charge: Liu Huiying, Tiffany Dalhen
Design Team: Yao Ran, Yu Lin, Cao Chen, Chen Nianhai, Cheng Xiangju, Reinier Simons, Fu Xiaoyi, Chen Wei, He Shunpeng, Li Zhengdong, Cao Xi, Zhang Kai, Li Xinyun, Kaushik Raghuraman, Deng Wei, Huang Zhiyu, Huai Wei, Sun Mingze, Dayie Wu, Hou Jinghui, Yin Jianfeng, Claudia Hertrich, Liu Zifan, Xie Qilin, Alan Rodríguez Carrillo, Qiang Siyang,
Client: Jiaxing Modern Service Industry Development & Investment (Group) Co., Ltd.
Executive Architects: Tongji Architectural Design (Group) Co., Ltd., China Railway Siyuan Survey and Design Group Co., Ltd.
Heritage Consultant: Shanghai Shuishi Architectural Design & Planning Corp.,Ltd
Landscape Consultant: Z’scape Landscape Planning and Design
Lighting Consultant: Beijing Sign Lighting Industry Group
Signage Consultant: NDC CHINA, Inc.
Interior Design Consultant: Shanghai Xian Dai Architectural Decoration & Landscape Design Research Institute Co., Ltd.
Structural Consultant: LERA Consulting Structural Engineers
Façade Consultant: RFR Shanghai
Construction Contractor: China Railway Construction Engineering Group, China Tiesiju Civil Engineering Group, China Construction Eighth Engineering Division Co., Ltd.