Reinventing the Railway Station

14 Japan Railway & Transport Review / December 1995

SPECIAL FEATURE – Changing Roles of Stations

Copyright © 1995 EJRCF. All rights reserved.

Reinventing the Railway Station

Michel Maillard

The development of the TGV(French high speed train - train àgrande vitese) generated quite astrong positive reaffirmation of therole played by the French railway sta-tion. Identity, understandability andfunctionalism are the three main axesaround which the SNCF (SociétéNationale des Chemins de ferFrançais) articulates this global ap-proach, which was first introduced byThe Station Design Office (SDO), di-rected and managed by Jean-MarieDuthilleul, Chief Architect to theSNCF.

Along the mainline system, com-muter and local lines, stations are de-veloping into railway transport cross-roads, and service and living centres.In the future, their design will fitclosely into huge city-planningschemes. The change has taken placethrough dialogue and consultation be-tween the various parties and part-ners inside and outside the SNCF.

By reappropriating some of the ar-chitectural archetypes of the past, the

modern station is starting over as asymbol of travel and a pleasant placefor the customer.

The railway station runs the dangerof being a non-spot, a mere transitpoint. However, in France, the sta-tion—new or 150-years old—remainsa place that is thoroughly accessibleto its users and the areas it serves. Asthe ‘Gateway to Your Journey,’ thestation must be a space where onefeels pleased to be; this was the primetarget of the successful approach bythe SDO, for the last 10 years or so.

The expansion of the TGV system(South-East, Atlantic, North) now serv-ing Europe has generated a networkof new stations presenting a powerfulimage, like older stations did, sharinga common identity. The closed uni-verse of the past has, however, givenway to a space of convergence, concen-tration and interconnection that thestation encompasses; it integrates thecomplex interchanges betweentoday’s different urban, suburban ornational transportation modes.

In fact, the old stations, built for-merly at the city outskirts functionedvery simply on a single level. How-ever, the city has since developedaround the station and diversifiedinto underground and overheadtransportation systems, etc. One hun-dred-and-fifty years later, the stationis far more elaborate, functioning inthree dimensions on several levels. InLille, for example, the train is con-nected in a most practical way to allthe transportation modes of our mod-ern age. Subway, bus, trams, bypass,taxis and parking spaces are as nearas possible to the platforms. This canmultiply functional constraints andcontradictions, but it is in the resolu-tion of such contradictions within amore compact space, that the heart ofany railway station project lays.

First, it is a matter of organization of‘territory’ whose effectiveness dependson a strong identity. Functional intrica-cies must be taken into account whileproperly positioning the principles foridentifying the place and the visual re-lationship to the city landmarks thatare the very source of the simplicity ofuse. It is this kind of balance that cre-ates the modern railway station.

Functional modern stationsreviving their heritage

The modern railway station propa-gates the past and maintains its linkswith history. It could have been sev-ered from our inherited architecturalarchetypes. During the boom railwayyears, the station grew from a ‘gate’ atthe city fringe to the status of ‘palace’in the very heart of the city. Its immu-table features being a colossal mainhall, subdued light, and stone soaringto the sky to meet the metal frame-work of the immense ceiling: all char-acteristic features of a station.

During the 1960s and 1970s, theautomobile and plane, more flexible

� Lille-Europe Station (SNCF/M. Denanci)

Japan Railway & Transport Review / December 1995 15Copyright © 1995 EJRCF. All rights reserved.

charter gives guidance to designers onmatters of interior appointments,threshold arrangements, verticalplanes and expansive spaces. Itstresses the instrumental importanceof the linear roofing, horizontal ex-pansion on a huge scale, toward therailway tracks. The way this roofing

shapes the space, curbing and subdu-ing the light is instrumental to therole of creating the architecture of therailway station.

Behind these spatial and sensorialrecommendations, it is possible to feelthe presence of some of the earlier ar-chetypes, entirely regenerated andadapted to modern requirements.

With regard to the selection and useof materials, the specifications aremore precise. Extensive use is madeof concrete, metal, wood and glass fortheir surface appearance and pristineidentity. These materials answer thestructural quest for image. They allconstitute signs marking space, andtheir consistency effectively contrib-utes identity to the system.

This new paradox gives rise to thenotion of consistent railway stationprojects, all of kindred character asthey form the network, and, at thesame time all different, heralding theimage of the city they serve.

Another factor, light, plays such adominant role in each project that itbecomes a fully specified ‘material’.Natural or artificial light allows con-trol of the perception of space and dra-matically contributes to passengercomfort. The SDO has also furtheredits concern for consistency to the fieldof design, especially for movables, ei-ther technical furniture to be used byrailway workers, interfaces used forcommunicating with SNCF users or

and faster, almost obliterated the en-chanting image of transport by rail.The few stations built in that periodare bogged down in the surroundingcityscape deprived of the status ofnoble edifice. The ‘palace’ turned intoa complex territory, planned like a‘factory’ with multitudinous ‘pipes’connected to carry their respectivetraffic. City and station were at bestsimply juxtaposed.

However, in the last 15 years or so,society seems to have re-discoveredthe railway once again, because it isthe fastest and cheapest land trans-port mode linking the hearts of cities.The new and renovated railway sta-tions propagate the system withoutbreaking the heritage of the past, andalso cast the past into the future. ForJean-Marie Duthilleul, the point is to,draw on some of these archetypes toenrich the project, while at the sametime outlining the space organiza-tional principles, starting fromtoday’s functional restraints.”

The Atlantic TGV system made itpossible to retrieve the railway stationas part of the city, while at the sametime serving as city gate and systemgate, exchange pole and urban servicespole. To marshal this cluster of func-tions, the SDO had to reinvent somespace arrangement and handling prin-ciples incorporated in all stages of theproject. These principles can besummed up in a single phrase: ‘explic-itness of the spatial arrangement.’ Thecomplexity of a railway station, in itsmodern sense of intermodal knot, is tobe both a system of space sequences,and also of reference points markingout the course. For the user, comfortand fluidity are achieved by easy ac-cess and simultaneous perception ofthe various levels. Montparnasse Sta-tion in Paris and Charles de GaulleAirport in Roissy typify the ideal inthis field.

Consistent materialscontribute to systemidentity

The main principles of functionalityhave been formalized in an architec-tural charter. Without making anyjudgment on the shape to be built, the

� Limoges Station (SNCF)

AN ARCHITECTURAL CHARTER FORTHE ATLANTIC1/ Stations which look like stations.2/ Stations where function is perceived

through size.3/ Stations which fit in well with cities.4/ Stations where architecture meets the

technical characteristics of the TGVA.5/ Stations which make people dream of

the Atlantic.




even furniture for their comfort. Thedesign is always used as an imagevector, and as a space managementtool. Evolutionary analysis led theteam to design a kit adaptable to anysituation, and consisting of a pole sup-porting three types of furniture ca-pable of supporting a great variety ofelements such as screens, light fit-tings, column speakers, enclosures,signboards, etc. This furniture kit ispositioned with care by associating allthe applications (signals, distributors,seats, advertising, telephone, etc.) inorder to end up in a near contractual‘Station occupation plan’ taking intoconsideration the consistency and leg-ibility of the whole.

Intermodal railway stationsand services centers

The station is a place were crowdsmeet, and it must, at the same time,foresee and manage a great many in-dividual situations. Each passengershould enjoy the maximum freedom ofchoise.

The requirements of our time alsoinvolve consumption amenities, ser-vices for customers as well as recep-tion and inquiry installations. Thecustomer has various observationpoints in space and on the platformsto watch and should also be able tounderstand the various services. Rail-

way transport is usually only a link inan entire journey, hence the necessityto plan and organize the prerequisitesfor intermodality.

Long-distance passengers do nothave the same expectations as com-muters. The latter, in their daily mi-grations, become used to ticket vend-ing machines. The long-distance pas-senger expects more care with regardto reception, inquiries, and sales.Their demand for quality extends tofood services, be it fast, or more conviv-ial. Furthermore, many city dwellersfrequently visit a railway station with-out using the services linked directlyto a journey; pharmacies and quickservices are attracting a new public.Thus, the railway station should beconceived as a centre providing ser-vices, as well as a market place, butwithout turning the station into a ba-zaar and without hampering theprogress of passengers. Finally, interms of image, the station should im-pose itself as comfortable and modern.

The architectural and functionalconcept is to create positions of balancebetween all these logistics. The sta-tion, reaffirmed as city antechambercontributes to the quality of urban lifeand may become a factor of attractionfor the whole city. As gate to the city,the railway station is also the gate tothe national or regional system.

New relationships wovenbetween rail and territory

The railway station could be simplyleft to architects and transportationsspecialists. However, the treatment oftoday’s railway stations is a planningoperation before it becomes a buildingoperation. New design methods havebeen developed at SNCF to encom-pass, within a global approach, the ar-chitectural project, the programmingand legal and financial settings. Thisnon-l inear process takes placethrough permanent ongoing discus-sion between specialists. It aims to in-tegrate the requirements and wills ofthe different parties involved (people’srepresentatives, railways and financialauthorities) each acting in accordancewith their own logic for their manage-ment of time and space, or in accor-dance with the will of the public.

New relationships are woven be-tween the railways and the territory.And, last but not least, the SNCF nolonger behaves as a haulier or a land-lord, but as a propounding and reac-tive force in planning matters.

The difficulties in these areas arosefrom the fact that the analysis factorsdiffer in the course of every designprocess. So, each new analysis projectrequires not adaption but redesign ofthe whole. Discussion helps cross-fer-tilize ideas, and the points of no re-turn (budgets, deadlines) can beshared by all.

Station Design Office—a place for research andinvention

A spirit of openness and debate isfound in the Station Design Office(SDO) staffed by some 80 architects,urban planners, engineers, techni-cians, economists and designers, or-ganized in a linked structure where‘transverse ’ teams work on eachproject together with the architect’steam in charge of the project and com-missioned to implement it at thegiven site.

The SDO is a laboratory of perma-nent research thriving on cooperationwith external advisers or researchdepartments (civil engineering, struc-

� Modular Furniture Kit (SNCF/Andréas. Heym)

Japan Railway & Transport Review / December 1995 17Copyright © 1995 EJRCF. All rights reserved.

tures and fluids, coverings, lighting,acoustics, concrete, etc.).

The charters and rules of the SDOhave shown their effectiveness. Theyare flexible enough to allow diversesolutions and have lead to such differ-ent achievements as Charles deGaulle Airport-TGV (collaborationwith Paul Andreu, architect to ParisAirports), Lille-Europe (collaborationwith Rem Koolhaas, architect-urbanplanner entrusted with EuraLillearea), Chessy-Marne-la-Vallée (atPark gate, integration of Disney char-ter) and Satolas-TGV (collaborationwith Santiago Calatrava resultingfrom international competition).

The SDO capitalizes on its know-how, acting as an interface between acompany dedicated to transport andthe heterogeneous factors of the city.It does not negate the contradictions,but stimulates them for the greatestbenefit while remaining open in itsprocesses so as to assimilate ex-tremely different situations and pro-duce diversity. In that spirit, it hasbeen developing works abroad in Eu-rope, Asia, and the USA for more than2 years. This meeting with other cul-tures on specified subjects is a source

of mutual enrichment.

Lille-Europe BoxLille-Europe, which opened in May

1994, constitutes the station prototypegenerating and integrating an urbanand real-estate development project.

In fact, Lille really wanted the newrailway to cross the urban area ofLille and the new TGV station to beestablished in an empty area just nextto Lille-Flanders Station. This choicewas based on the local ambition tocreate a new district called Euralillebetween both stations to maximizeprofits from its geographic position inthe centre of the London-Paris-Brus-sels triangle.

After 2 hectic years of talks betweenthe SDO, the local authorities and theteam of Rem Koolhaas, the architectcommissioned to handle the overallscheme, a substantial programmewas finalized. It required shifting thering road and tramway, extending thesubway system and cleaning up a 80-hectare district. Such a program is ona par with a real-estate project devel-oping a shopping mall, hotel, offices,cultural facilities and an urban park.

Originally, the new station hadbeen designed like a 400-m long con-crete tube accommodating four tracks

and two platforms underground. Dis-cussions and studies resulted in modi-fying the initial project so the trainappeared on the scene and could takepart in the city life. The station thusbecame a genuine urban space. It iscomposed of a 400-m pedestrianstreet, where the passenger can findany transport service he may need:subway, tramway, taxi, car and train.This street also gives access to the en-trance halls of the three tower-blocksoverhanging the station. Terraced onthree storeys, the station hingesaround this extensive ambulatory thatdrains all the transportation modes onthe site, gives access to the trains andregroups all the services dealing withtravelling, as well as business. Thisheart of the city is an authentic galleryopening on the city and the trains.

Subdued light, structure repeatingto infinity, motion of trains andcrowds, Lille-Europe Station is trulywithin the scope of the eternal sta-tion. Its glass roof, shaped into awave, designed in collaboration withthe British engineer, Peter Rice, issuspended by a web of cables fromhuge metallic arcatures. Thanks tothe effects of perforated sheet metal,this glass roof subdues with infinitesoftness the exquisite light so particu-lar to northern France. By night, indi-

� SDO Plan for San Francisco Station (SNCF)

� SDO Staff at Charles de Gaulle (SNCF/J. J. d'Angelo)

� Lille-Europe Station under Construction (SNCF)




� TGV Station at Charles de Gaulle Airport(SNCF/A. Grasser, S. Bataille)rect illumination seems to make the

roof float and creates the illusion ofthe whole building being suffusedwith a halo of light.

The circulating vectors of the sta-tion play the role of a roofed publicpassageway between park, shoppingmall, tower-blocks, Europe squareand urban transport, providing aplace for meetings, exchanges andservices intermingled with the gossipof the city and the expectations oftravel. The spacious arcatures offerthe TGV passengers a view of the city.This is how the TGV scene is set.

In this fashion the loop is closedmaking Lille-Europe Station the ar-chetype of the new relationship be-tween rail and surroundings

Roissy BoxIf Lille-Europe Station symbolizes

the powerful urban anchor of themodern railway station, Charles deGaulle Airport TGV stands as the as-sertion of the multimodal forum,freed from urban constraints. Thefruit of exemplary cooperation be-tween two public corporations (ParisAirports and French National Rail-ways), it made Paris the first city inthe world to offer passengers such anextensive choice in terms of connec-tion between plane, high-speed train,local express train and highway.

Long discussion led to a complete ref-

ormation of the point-to-point service tothe airport. The TGV station, whichalso serves as a new terminus for theregional express line is between AirportTerminal 2 and future Terminal 3.

This is the point that concentratesall the transportation systems servingthe airport. To finalize such a project,whose qualities lie in the deep interde-pendence of the spaces dedicated to thevarious modes, a joint team was set upby regrouping the architects of bothcorporations (Paul Andreu and Jean-Marie Duthilleul of the Station DesignOffice and Peter Rice of the RFRteam).

The first requirement was to build alegible, easy-to-understand pole al-lowing passengers to keep a perma-nent whole vision of their itinerary foreach available transportation mode.The whole project falls into place onfive levels under two immense 200-mlong glass roofs rising to the centre ofthe station topped by a hotel. Bybringing out the different structural

Michel Maillard

Following 5 years as an architect in private firms (in France and abroad), 10 years as a town

planner in the Paris region and 5 years experience of export with SOFRERAIL, Michel Maillard

joined the SNCF (French National Railways) team of architects. He started with the

Montparnasse station design project and then became responsible for development studies for

the large Paris stations. At present, he works with the SNCF Urban Development Department in

charge of station design general studies (in France and abroad), regarding function and their

spatial organization.

levels, the architectural expressionhas succeeded in turning this aprioricomplex interchange into a verysimple space understood by all. Leg-ibility, understandability and func-tionality are all here; the mineralstructure of the trench accommodat-ing the trains, light structures of thestairs and escalators connecting thevarious levels, and finally, the glassroof topping all the areas offered tothe travellers.

The mid-air glass roof (27,000 m2),symbolizing the meeting of the tre-mendous speeds of the railway andplane, is the key landmark, the ele-ment unifying the perception of space.It bestows its identity to this stationwhere travellers to Roissy-Charles deGaulle can speed directly to principalFrench cities and other Europeancapitals, while by-passing Paris. �

� Plan for Charles de Gaulle TGV Station (SNCF)

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Reinventing the Railway Station