Chinese architecture studio MAD has revealed its design for Train Station in the Forest in Jiaxing, China, which will see the studio rebuild a historical railway station and complement it with a new underground terminal.
 MAD’s development will see two sunken waiting halls lit through skylights and glass curtain walls built on either side of existing overground platforms, while a basement level will contain extensive shopping areas under a redeveloped park.
At the centre of the 35.4 hectares proposal will be a fullscale reconstruction of the historical Jiaxing train station, which was originally constructed in 1907 but destroyed in the second Sino-Japanese war in 1937.
The historical building, which will stand alongside the new solar panel-topped buildings, will form the entrance to the new train station.
It will be visible underground from inside the tunnel that will take visitors from the waiting hall to the platforms.
MAD hopes its design will set Jiaxing’s Train Station in the Forest apart from others in the country.
The existing Jiaxing train station, which had reached its capacity, will be encompassed by the new scheme and turned into the Jiaxing Railway History Museum.
The capacity of the train station will be updated with the new design, and it will now serve six tracks instead of five, with overall passenger capacity expected to reach 5.28 million people per year.
In addition to transportation functions, the underground areas of the Jiaxing train station will also house shopping areas.
They will be connected to the park above through sunken courtyards, while sunken municipal roads will link the underground areas to bus terminals as well as a tramway, metro, car parking and taxi stands.
A new above-ground commercial area will be created south of the station with landscaped lawns that can be used for events and festivals.
“The scheme’s emphasis on connecting with its surroundings will also serve to increase human activity and visitors to the area, enhance its commercial offering, and ultimately rejuvenate the old city centre with a new vitality,” MAD said.
Construction of the station began in 2019, and it is expected to be completed by July 2021.
