As part of an overall renovation program for Basel’s main station, the new railway engine depot and signal box were part of a first construction phase. Situated on a triangular junction of numerous tracks, the configuration of the depot and workshop sheds express the tight functional displacement of the volumes. This was the starting point of the design.
The structural system generated from this series of linear buildings is one of cast in-situ reinforced concrete walls with a roof structure of deep, one-storey high square-section steel girders. This roof structure allows for sky lighting to the deep plan space. The girders support a series of quasi-tensile membranes that are covered by grass, protecting the membrane and acting as an ideal insulator for both summer and winter climatic conditions. To the south end of the plan there is a three-storey office block which spans across four girders of varying widths.
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