#LANDSCAPING AND URBAN PLANNING PROJECTS
A floating gold roof tops BIG’s proposed Västerås transportation hub
Architecture firm BIG has unveiled designs for a new transportation center in Västerås—one of the biggest cities in Sweden.
The 12,000-square-meter building will reconnect two urban neighborhoods—currently divided by two train tracks—beneath a curving gold roof that appears to float from afar. Designed to serve trains, buses, taxis, bikes, and pedestrians, the Västerås Travel Center has a glazed and sinuous frame informed by the “flow of people and public life.”
The Västerås Travel Center was designed as part of the 3B — Build Away the Barriers, a redevelopment plan that will transform the 17 acres surrounding the existing railway into a series of engaging civic spaces. The curving roof, the uplifted corners of which mark the entrance and exit, will unite the mixed-use spaces within the platform.
“Like a continuous thin sheet, the roof is gently lifted at its four corners, wrapping the city’s vehicular infrastructure in multiple layers of public program and urban spaces. These four corners create welcoming entrance points, inviting travelers and visitors inside,” says BIG. “Restaurants, cafes, bike parking, retail and other facilities are organized alongside train, bus and car traffic to support the free flow of public life through the building and out towards the city to nearby Lake Malaren.”
