Busbahnhof Singen // Germany
Vandaag, 00:00
Project: Bus station, Singen | Germany
Architect: K9 Architekten, Freiburg | Germany
Fabricator & Installer: Haller Industriebau GmbH, Villingen-Schwenningen | Germany
Façade System: Tray panels SZ20Year of Construction: 2020
Product: ALUCOBOND® A2 Champagne Metallic
Photos & Drawings: Leblanc Fotografie + Haller Industriebau GmbH
Wonderful Welcome
Evenly scattered in the rolling green landscapeof southern Germany, there are numerous villages.The lively rural hinterland is due to thepresence of large companies and flourishingtown centres in many of the small towns here.Singen, the home of the brand ALUCOBOND®,is one of these dynamic hubs. Large numbersof people commute from the Black Forest, theLake Constance region and the northern tipof Switzerland to Singen, and the traditionalmethod of transport is by car. However, Baden-Württemberg has been making ambitious stridesforwards in adapting to changes in transport andclimate policy for some years now. The state andthe town want to encourage drivers to leave theircars at home and take the bus and train. Withthis aim in mind, the railway station has beenmodernised, a shopping centre built and a veryspecial structure added. Passengers travellingby town and regional buses have found an attractiveplace to wait under this glistening, lightlyfolded canopy since 2020, in a context almostas grand as guests waiting for their limousines infront of the Ritz. The folded roof’s primary functionis as protection against the elements, but italso has a psychological effect. The underside,in folded metallic Champagne ALUCOBOND®,enhances the ambience at the bus stops: lightsand movements generate matt reflections inwarm hues on the sloping undersides of thecanopy 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 theroof surface. These tapering, horizontal beamsare arranged in a series of “V”s which join toform acute angles along the top and produce azigzag pattern in the 160-metre-long horizontalcanopy. Absolute precision was essential due tothe complex geometry at the points where thegirders abut and also where the ALUCOBOND®tray panels meet. Two offset rows of slendercolumns support the steel girders. This resultsin an unencumbered space under the canopyand gives the whole structure a delicate look,despite the enormous weight of the green roof.Incidentally, the vegetation on the roof acts as arainwater reservoir and habitat for insect life inthe middle of the city. Eleven buses can fit underthe canopy at any one time. They arrive everyfew minutes, carrying many passengers from allaround the region. Numbers will, no doubt, increasein the future, thanks in no small part tothe refined and ritzy reception.