Redefining the train station in China, Ma Yansong, founder of MAD Architects, was the man behind the country’s first fully sunken railway station, which involved both reconstruction and expansion. Instead of pursuing monumental architecture, the firm asked if it was possible for urban train stations to be constructed at a more comfortable, human scale, to be more than a stopover for travelers, but also an open, green public space that both inhabitants and tourists can enjoy and would want to spend time in. On a 35.4-hectare site in a city of 5.4 million people southwest of Shanghai, MAD Architects rebuilt Jiaxing’s historic early 20th-century train station based on archival studies, replacing an outdated, ageing, noisy, chaotic and undersized facility, whilst simultaneously constructing a new futuristic train station mainly hidden underground – with just one floor above so as not to eclipse the old station building. It lies beneath a vast green roof resembling rolling green hills yet is flooded with natural light pouring in through a ground-level glass curtain wall and skylights. Shared between Jiaxing’s citizens and travelers, the ground-floor space is given back to nature, transforming into a “train station in the forest”.
Jiaxing Train Station by MAD Architects
How does this project take into account the immediate surroundings, landscape and the environment at large in terms of its architecture, layout and systems design? What is the impact of the project on the surrounding landscape?
Our main approach is to use the landscape as a methodology, a language, a medium to “stitch” together various functionalities of the old city center. We broke down the boundaries of the pre-existing small People’s Park at the northern corner of the plot, released nature from its isolated box to the exterior and extended it to the entire master plan. The office and retail complex in the southern part of the plot, the square and forest in the north and the railway station itself in the middle respond to this ecology and grow into each other in accordance with the surrounding area, and eventually form a network. This network is then a new urban area that combines leisure activities with transportation functions, and further with a new CBD. The different functions all blend into each other, but with interesting space and landscape, a park, a new urban fabric. It is an ecological park situated centrally with usable transportation that embraces multiple functions.
How does the project impact the local community?
The project is not only about designing a train station, but also about enriching the entire abandoned urban area. It is a complex city renovation that involves a historical building, landscape, traffic, new architecture, iconic elevations and adding more functional volumes. It’s a complicated coordination with different function areas at the same time. For example, the relationship between the operation of the train station, the subway, MRT, bus hubs, taxi stands, etc. It is not about designing and building a single well running train station. It has to form a community around it, with an improvement of the entire function of this area in quality. There were multiple discussions with neighboring districts and communities during the design process, even when facing the tight time frame of construction. Putting the main station room underground, creating an underpass train station and connecting the southern part and northern part of the railway, instead of having the city divided into two segments by the train station, was also our goal in design.
What materials have been used?
Anodized aluminum honeycomb panels, artificial inorganic stone, glass and solar photovoltaic panels for the new train station, and brick, glass, concrete and stone for the restoration of the historical station house. For the new train station’s ceiling and tunnel wall, we used anodized aluminum honeycomb panels. For the wall and floor, we used artificial inorganic stone. For the roof cladding, we used solar photovoltaic panels and honeycomb aluminum panels. For the historical station, we used traditionally made bricks for the wall and terrazzo for the floor.
The train station in the forest
Where were they sourced or procured from?
Most materials were sourced locally. For the restoration of the historical station house, we used a lot of bricks procured from the mud of a lake in Jiaxing. It was produced at a local brick kiln, an intangible cultural heritage craft.
How much energy and carbon can be saved? What are the ways that this project has incorporated to achieve this?
The new train station is covered with photovoltaic panels, and its power generation capacity is 1.1 million kWh/year, equivalent to an annual emissions reduction of about 1,000 tons of carbon dioxide.
What were the main challenges and how did the project team overcome them? What design features highlighted those efforts?
There were many. But the main challenge was to complete construction with a running station within a super short period of time to minimize the impact of this renovation on the city. We came up with a two-phase plan for construction: first the station and northern square, then the southern plaza and the main architecture. Basically the construction all started at once, but the train station and park were completed first in 2021, then the southern part opened to public and started leasing last year, with more companies and shops joining in.
How has the Jiaxing Train Station revitalized the urban area, blending transport functions with shops, an office tower, a hotel, an exhibition space, a concert hall and a park/forest? Have you been able to meet your goals of becoming an urban public space that people can enjoy, or have there been expectations that were unmet?
Another highlight of our project is the complexity of architecture programmatically. We implemented new commercial urbanism, hotels, offices, a museum and a park to create a new type of space. This kind of composite identity provides multiple living spaces for expanding cities, for which it becomes more than just transportation, even for those who are not even scheduled to take a train. The current problem that we’re dealing with is how railway stations are extremely separated from cities. They are isolated not only in terms of program, but also in terms of architectural form. Our aim for this railway station is to create both efficient and diverse functions to invite multiple urban clusters to join the public area and hopefully take a pause within this complex space for a moment of rest and appreciation.
The train station’s light-filled interiors
You worked with NYC-based structural engineer LERA Consulting Structural Engineers on the Jiaxing Train Station. As design thinking can’t occur in a vacuum, how does collaboration or exchange between an Asian firm (MAD Architects) and a Western firm (LERA) on a transport infrastructure project result in new ideas, perspectives and solutions about how design and architecture can create a better everyday life for people and the planet?
We have cooperated on numerous projects; another signature one is the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art in the United States and they have shown their excellent specialty in complex projects. We need to learn from such experiences in the development of Chinese cities, that the ultimate objectives of design and planning are driven by cultural understanding and vision. This will allow us to break the boundaries of architectural design that only consider the design of a solo building, a single function, one object. Lots of projects now in our cities are complex issues. They need a certain creativity in troubleshooting: we are not designing an object, but renovating a social reality. With such intention in design, it further requires engineers to be more creative and cooperative. It brings more challenges for sure. The Jiaxing Train Station was extremely difficult because everyone in the project had to be conceptually aligned. As the project that we worked on was comparatively different from other railway stations in China, it required us to accept a new way of thinking in a very short period of time; therefore, to establish such a project, technical support was necessary.
