Boarding station “Nea Elvetia”
The project concerns the design of a model bus-stop shelter and a ground-floor building intended to accommodate uses related to the needs of the bus drivers and mainly their rest during the necessary break of their shift, which are located in the Transfer Station of N. Elvetia, where bus lines arrive from different parts of the city while connecting to the underground metro network.
Exploiting the notions of networking and connection, the project seeks to produce an architecture that interacts with the new potential of experiencing waiting in urban space.
The bus-stop as a space is linked to the notion of waiting, to the empty-free time, rare in a society in constant acceleration. Consequently, the bus-stop becomes a point of connection of networks of heterogeneous elements: people, moments, objects and situations.
Α model bus-stop shelter : The various elements that constitute the bus-stop shelter are analyzed as distinct units – “pieces of a game”. Multiple combinations are enabled depending on the positioning space. The elements are organized in three horizontal zones:
- The base : consisting of the seating and planting receptors.
- The Intermediate zone : which carries the communication /information and the metal structures of the climbing planting where aromatic plants enrich the sensory experience.
- The Roof: a metal shelter is the unifying element of the network, accommodates the name of the bus-stop, the lighting, the speakers and the solar panels.
Driver΄s Station : This building is considered as a “big stop” within a network of bus stops. The design concept was based on the exploration of the notions of connection and temporary disconnection (rest), focusing on the experience of waiting/resting.
The building consists of two compact building volumes that contain different functions .Main functions in K1 and minor functions in K2, connected through a metal canopy, allowing the surrounding area to be functional during the summer months.
The positioning of the two building units organizes the external space by creating relationships and connections throughout their perimeter, forming conditions for socialization and isolation from the noise of the transfer station.
For the planting of the surrounding area and the roofs, aromatic plants and herbs are proposed, aiming το strengthen the bioclimatic design and enrich the experience of rest and waiting.
PROJECT INFORMATION
DESCRIPTION
Driver Service Building and Prototype Bus Stop Shelter
CATEGORY
Public Project
COMMISSION
Architectural Design, Interior Design
LOCATION
Nea Elvetia Transfer Station, Thessaloniki, Greece
PROJECT AREA
90 sq.m.
LEAD ARCHITECTS
Natalia Chrysikou
Panagiota Kamperou
DESIGN TEAM
Lito Karabini
Androula Orfanidi
COLLABORATING CONSULTANTS
Athanasios Xenos & Co. E.E., Arxiko / Consulting Engineers
Konstantinos Saropoulos / Mechanical Engineer
STATUS
Completed
DESIGN / CONSTRUCTION PERIOD
2022 / 2024
PHOTOGRAPHY / Giorgos Iliou
CONSTRUCTION / SITE SUPERVISION
AKTOR S.A.