Benidorm Station
About a year ago we had the opportunity of acting on this unique building from the 1960s. Its rectangular floor plan and steel structure were reminiscent more of an industrial building than an actual train station.
When we approached redesign of the building, we perceived the option of using cutting-edge construction solutions to improve its urban image and the user’s experience in addition to adapting it to the currently applicable transport and accessibility regulations and the technical building code.
To do so, the first thing we did was to decide which parts of the building we would keep, improve or discard completely. This initial reflection led us to maintain the unique roof, re-dimension the existing voids in the façade and eliminate parts of the external envelope to flood the interior with natural light. Re-dimensioning the voids enabled us to emphasise the presence of the main entrance which had been diluted among the rest of the openings.
Location: Benidorm
Area: 339,80 m2
Year: 2018
Photography: Milena Villalba Montoya
Status: Construido
Partners: Cota a Cota Ingeniería
The brick of the main façade was replaced by translucent polycarbonate sheets that extend to the platforms and constitute one of the building’s aesthetic keynotes. We covered the rest of the volume with a perforated extruded aluminium sheet skin that achieves a distinct full-empty effect.
On a functional level the building was divided into two parts, clearly differentiated in the floor plan: the area open to the public and the part devoted to administrative and operational activities. In the public area there is the hall that works as a transit zone between the platforms, access from the street, the cafeteria and the waiting area while all the work rooms and the toilets are located in the operational zone.
The Hall is a diaphanous space flooded with light both day and night by installation of linear luminaires that cross each other to create a compellingly beautiful composition.
1-Hall // 2-Offices // 3-Ticket sales // 4-Workers’ private area // 5-Rest area // 6-Toilets
The only partition in the room manages transit between the inside and the outside. On one side, it works as the access ramp handrail and, on the other side, you will find the rest area.
Materials
Façade
Polycarbonate in the translucent parts and brick covered with perforated aluminium sheet.
Interior
Plasterboard partition walls.
Continuous plasterboard suspended ceilings in the hall and provided with inspection panels in the workstations and toilets.
Grey vinyl floor.
5 mm steel plate skirting.
