New Ede-Wageningen train station flourishes

Anyone who wants to see a train station come to fruition needs patience. Architect Rodrigo Louro of Mecanoo knows that better than anyone. Some ten years ago, Mecanoo's design for the new Ede-Wageningen stadium won the competition. The seed had been planted. Now the construction of the new station is well underway. The most unique element of the design is already complete: the canopy with wooden beams. This gives travelers the feeling that they are protected under a large tree.

Louro says, "We focus heavily on the user experience. That's about functionality, but also the feeling you get when you step into the building. We want people to be excited when they are there. By playing with shapes, proportions and light, we always try to create something that is remarkable and beautiful."

Strong design

That seems to have worked out well: the 2014 design immediately hit the nail on the head. "That has remained 95 percent the same, but there have also been improvements. In our original design, you see a lot of bare beams. That way of sustainable construction was very new at the time. Later it turned out that it was better to protect the wood anyway. So we added metal cladding to the outer edge. This keeps the wood protected, but you can still see the beautiful beam structure." Also, in the original design, there was more continuous glass in the canopy. "We divided that into smaller triangles. And that worked out well: the combination of the beam structure and the broken light gives you the feeling as if you're standing safely under a big tree."

Beautiful picture

The station has two unique sides. "The entrance is an open, collective area with all kinds of facilities. An extension of the city. On the other side you have greenery and tranquility. If you stand on the platform and look north, the canopy and the greenery from the back merge into each other. It makes for a beautiful picture." Louro also takes into account how everything comes together in the exterior. "The beautifully soft composition allows the building to blend into its surroundings. Moreover, it is not too high, so we ensure the protected feeling. Not a monumental, but a human scale."

Large puzzle

In a place where infrastructure is central, you have to balance many variables. "Besides trains, we had to take into account buses and cyclists, among other things, and make room for parking spaces for commuters. Both for cars and for 6,000 bicycles. It's important that everything fits together well." Moreover, at a train station you have to take extra account of safety. "For example, in the tunnel connecting the two sides of the station. How do you close that? Moreover, something like that is constantly evolving. When we started, you didn't always have fences at the check-in points. Now we do. We keep in mind that things change, but it takes patience."

The challenge is always to bring together the wishes of the clients and everyone involved, as well as your own point of view, into the design, Louro concludes. "You have to do what you believe in. That process is often a big puzzle, but also incredibly fascinating."