Located about 7 miles north of Naples, the Napoli Afragola railway station designed by Zaha Hadid Architects has been operating for a year now. To mark the occasion, the firm released some new photos of the snake-like building taken by Hufton + Crow.
As part of Italy's expanding high-speed rail network in preparation of growing demands for train travel, the new station is the first part of a multi-phase project expected to be complete in 2022. Inaugurated last year with 18 high-speed trains in each direction, services will increase to 28 trains as new infrastructure is built. Most recently, the train station received the 2018 Surface Travel Award for Transportation.
Located within Italy's new north/south high-speed rail corridor, Napoli Afragola will connect some 15 million of Southern Italy's residents with the national railway network. It will also enable goods and passengers from Europe and northern Italy to have easier access to Italy's southern ports. Once all the rail lines are in service, about 32,700 passengers are expected to use the Napoli Afragola station every day, including some 4,800 local commuters.
“The design enlarges the elevated walkway above the eight platforms to such a degree that it is transformed into the station’s main passenger concourse; creating an inhabited public bridge housing all the services and facilities for departing, arriving, and connecting passengers, with direct access to all platforms below,” ZHA describes. “The circulation routes of passengers using the station have determined the geometries of its spaces. Large entrances at both ends of the station welcome and guide visitors to the elevated central concourse where rail passengers descend to the platforms.”
“Designed as an extruded trapezoid along its 450m curved path, the station’s elevated concourse is orientated at an angle from the railway tracks to improve its environmental performance. An integrated solar PV array, natural light and ventilation as well as ground source cooling/heating systems will enable the station to minimize energy consumption.,” ZHA continues.
Find more project photos in the gallery below.
All photos courtesy of Zaha Hadid Architects.
4 Comments
Wow. Really nice.
Was not aware of this building. I like how the building crosses the tracks and is one coherent whole, a beautiful gesamtkunstwerk. In the Netherlands main station buildinsg and the part covering the tracks are often disconnected and designed by separate offices.
That looks pretty darned nice. I like that it deploys all the classic train station components (concourses, big hall, platforms, etc, etc) in an unusual form that's much more responsive to its non-urban, almost greenfield site. And it still manages an appropriately grand scale. Well done.
Probably one of the better ZHA projects I've seen in a while but could they not have done something better with those exterior galvanized handrails? Seems like a missed opp.
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