Alboraya-Palmaret Metro Station
After suffering the consequences of a public transport rail line that divided the town of Alboraya, the Department of Infrastructure and Transport decided to look for a solution. We designed a new metro station under the ground with plenty of natural light and a 6000m2 park to solve the connectivity problems between the two halves of the town divided previously by the old infrastructure.
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The project is located in Alboraya, a town close to the Valencia, Spain. For a long time, the habitants had been suffering the consequences of a public transport rail line that divided its territory into two halves. The Department of Infrastructure and Transport was concerned about this architectonical barrier and due to an awarded tram stop prototype that our firm presented in a previous contest, we were assigned this new commission.
The first intention was to solve the town’s connectivity problem. We found the key in creating the new station under the ground by removing most of the old train rails. This allowed us to sew the two parts of the city and to make that possible, we designed a big park.
The park has an approximated surface area of 6.000 square meters. It has seven terraces in different levels, leading us from the street to the hall of the new station. We created different environments in it: from resting areas for the eldest habitants till playgrounds for children where a large number of various trees species casted shadows to protect them from the sunrays.
Regarding the train station, we also fixed some objectives that we wanted to pursue from the very first steps of the designing process. Sometimes the passengers feel disoriented when they get off the subway. They try to look for the exit following signs that guide them through labyrinthine corridors which are not clear enough. This was exactly the situation we wanted to avoid in our project.
In all our previous sketches, our purpose was to make the user feel a comfortable and positive travel experience. The flux had to be easy and logical. We divided the space into two different areas: the hall —that has beautiful views to the park— and the platform —which is located underground with a high ceiling that provides a special spatial sense—. This second area was the one that concerned us the most.
We wanted to enjoy the natural light in the platform. The park helped us to bring it below ground so that, when leaving the train. Passengers, whether regular or sporadic, could clearly appreciate the space in which they found themselves and thus exit the station easily guided by the sun.
