Foster + Partners win competition to design Ourense AVE Station

Along with engineers G.O.C. and Cabanelas Castelo Architects, Foster + Partners have won an international competition to design a new high-speed rail station in the city of Ourense in Galicia, located in northwestern Spain. The winning proposal integrates transport infrastructure with a new urban park, providing a large public space that will open up a series of pedestrian links to connect the districts divided by the track.

The high-speed AVE train station floats over the existing track level, a new bus station and parking area below. Perceived to be “discreet and transparent”, the station is protected by a sequence of lightweight roof canopies that rise above as an arc and provide shade to the plaza and park entrance. Glazed facades provide a visual connection through the station and to the mountain beyond.

Spaces between each canopy become a glazed, linear opening, while the reflective underside of the roof lights up the platforms below with daylight.

Pools and a network of formal pedestrian paths extend from the station plaza, mimicing the alignment of the tracks and connecting the streets of Barrio del Puente to Barrio Veintiuno.

Nigel Dancey, senior partner at Foster + Partners states, “We are delighted to have been selected for our integrated design, which brings together high-speed rail and bus stations with a major new public space for the city. We look forward to working with ADIF and the City of Ourense as the project develops.”