Bus station, Germany
22 juni 2022
Project: Bus station, Singen | Germany
Architect: K9 Architekten, Freiburg | Germany
Fabricator & Installer: Haller Industriebau GmbH, Villingen-Schwenningen | Germany
Façade System: Tray panels SZ20
Year of Construction: 2020
Product: ALUCOBOND® A2 Champagne Metallic
Photos & Drawings: Leblanc Fotografie + Haller Industriebau GmbH
WONDERFUL WELCOME
Evenly scattered in the rolling green landscape of southern Germany, there are numerous villages. The lively rural hinterland is due to the presence of large companies and flourishing town centres in many of the small towns here. Singen, the home of the brand ALUCOBOND®, is one of these dynamic hubs. Large numbers of people commute from the Black Forest, the Lake Constance region and the northern tip of Switzerland to Singen, and the traditional method of transport is by car. However, Baden-Württemberg has been making ambitious strides forwards in adapting to changes in transport and climate policy for some years now. The state and the town want to encourage drivers to leave their cars at home and take the bus and train. With this aim in mind, the railway station has been modernised, a shopping centre built and a very special structure added. Passengers travelling by town and regional buses have found an attractive place to wait under this glistening, lightly folded canopy since 2020, in a context almost as grand as guests waiting for their limousines in front of the Ritz. The folded roof’s primary function is as protection against the elements, but it also has a psychological effect. The underside, in folded metallic Champagne ALUCOBOND®, enhances the ambience at the bus stops: lights and movements generate matt reflections in warm hues on the sloping undersides of the canopy and, especially on summer evenings, flood the covered space in a subtle sepia light. The structural engineers selected steel double-T beams to create the sloping parts of the roof surface. These tapering, horizontal beams are arranged in a series of “V”s which join to form acute angles along the top and produce a zigzag pattern in the 160-metre-long horizontal canopy. Absolute precision was essential due to the complex geometry at the points where the girders abut and also where the ALUCOBOND® tray panels meet. Two offset rows of slender columns support the steel girders. This results in an unencumbered space under the canopy and gives the whole structure a delicate look, despite the enormous weight of the green roof. Incidentally, the vegetation on the roof acts as a rainwater reservoir and habitat for insect life in the middle of the city. Eleven buses can fit under the canopy at any one time. They arrive every few minutes, carrying many passengers from all around the region. Numbers will, no doubt, increase in the future, thanks in no small part to the refined and ritzy reception.