Circular roof brings refreshed image to Graz Main Station Local Transport Hub
After two years construction, and with an investment of €90m, the local transport hub at Graz Main Station is to be finished on time and within budget. The area in front of the station has been redesigned with a new projecting roof, called ‘Golden Eye’ by the locals, marking the centre of the plaza. Architects Zechner & Zechner Zt led the design team.
The tram lines have seen the most modernisation and now run underground, with all four lines directly connecting with the station. Due to the Local Transport Hub offering international connections, the station will attract around 40,000 passengers.
The new double-length stop for the tram lines is situated underground below the green space at Europaplatz. The stop is open to the sky above the lines, with covered waiting areas.
Passengers can also see the neighbouring hotel and the sky, which helps them to orientate themselves. The wall and ceiling surfaces of the station are covered with a stripe pattern of fibre-reinforced concrete panels, the angled and structured surface makes the station seem to have been ‘cut’ from the ground.
The most significant element of the redesign is the covering of the plaza - an oval, ring-shaped disk that provides a ring of shelter to the station concourse and bus stops. The ring roof creates an ‘outer concourse’ outside the existing station concourse. The station‘s stripe pattern extends over the paving of the plaza area, and shades into differently designed green zones.
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