Rail Baltica bridge and transport hub / 2016
At Gottlieb Paludan Architects, I have been the project leader in the design of a new railway bridge and multi-modal public transport hub in Riga. The project received an honorable mention and it is designed in collaboration with Latvian Nams and Dutch Witteveen+Bos.
In this design proposal, the visions of the competition program were brought to life through an urban planning concept that emphasizes cohesion, connections and conscience. These three main focal points lead to a design that offers effective, functional and beautiful solutions to the current challenges and points out a new direction for Riga: A respectful transformation towards a city that gives priority to green and efficient mobility, urban life on a human scale and every day, cross-town connectivity while celebrating its history.
The concept is kept together by a coherent, unobtrusive and organic design, informed and inspired by the flow patterns of pedestrians and cyclists, the arches of the existing railway bridge over the Daugava River and the historic fortifications.
By introducing new, multifunctional infrastructure that aim to eliminate the existing barriers in the city, the proposal creates new connections and new urban qualities. The Bridge, the Overpass, and the Station are multi-functional and offer new meeting places, new connections and new places of interest for Riga’s citizens while also re-connecting the divided parts of the historic moat and fortifications.
The proposal creates integrated transport solutions for pedestrians and cyclists across the river, all the way to the new multi-modal central station where trains, buses, trams, cars, buses and taxis meet. The change enable the barriers between Old Riga and the new part of town and between North and South to become perforated by new connections, sowing together a number of urban spaces, that are currently divided.
The project presents design solutions for the Bridge, the Overpass and the Station as well as an urban planning approach that will help create a more coherent and more livable Riga.
Additional project information can be found here.
