Tram stop in Alicante / SUBARQUITECTURA

Architects: SUBARQUITECTURA, Andrés Silanes, Fernando Valderrama, Carlos Bañon
Location: Rotonda de Sergio Cardell, Alicante, Spain (38.364°N, 0.432°W)
Structure: SUBARQUITECTURA
Client: FGV - Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat Valenciana
Contractor: UTE ECISA + COMSA
Site Area: 5.090 sqm
Budget: 654.638 EURO (US $1.01 million)
Project starts: September 2005
Project ending: October 2006
Inauguration date: Early 2007

Building the Tram stop was an opportunity to give back to the city a space that had been taken from it; transform a roundabout in a public square.

The frontal access to the platforms is reached in 32 possible ways trought a fractionated system of paths that get round the existing vegetation. Over them, two hollow boxes, 36 meters long, 3 meters wide and 2.5 meters high, create a floating emptiness slightly above the travelers’ heads in a scale closer to the Tram than to the street furniture.

There is no distinction between finish and structure, nor between walls and roof. It is an isotropic material in its conception and construction. Eight hundred circular drillings lighten as well as provide resistance against normal strains. Light and air pass throught its pores, softening the shade and providing a breeze in the summer months while at the same time offering less resistance against the wind.

At night, they become two powerful lamps that light up the platforms directly. The benches are related to the paths, allowing the passengers to wait in contact with vegetation, lighting the route softly.