Zaha Hadid Architects' ‘Green Connect’ Proposal Selected First in Competition to Transform Vilnius Railway Station

Written by Christele Harrouk
Published on September 24, 2021

Zaha Hadid Architects has ranked first in a design competition for the redevelopment of the Vilnius railway station complex and surrounding area in Lithuania, with its ‘Green Connect’ proposal. Generating an integrated transportation hub for the 21st century with new civic spaces enveloped by nature, ZHA’s project is aligned to the city’s ongoing sustainability agenda.

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Prioritizing pedestrians and cyclists, the selected proposal will upgrade the Vilnius railway station by incorporating a new public bridge over the railway tracks to connect the Naujininkai district to the south with the city center and Vilnius old town. That way, the proposal transforms the “existing rail infrastructure from being a barrier that divides the city into a connector that unites Vilnius and serves as a transport hub for national and local rail services in addition to the new Rail Baltic line that links with Europe’s high-speed network”.

It is an honour to be awarded highest ranking in this competition for such a strategically important site for Vilnius. ‘Green Connect’ will be a future-proof transport hub designed with the passenger experience in mind. Providing a wealth of new public space, our proposals transform the site into a destination not only for those using the transportation hub but also for the city of Vilnius and the local community. -- Gianluca Racana, Zaha Hadid Architects’ Director.

Organized by Lietuvos Geležinkeliai, the company LTG Infra, which manages the country's railway network, and Vilnius City Municipality, the project renovates and reuse the original station, while adding a new contemporary 9,500 sq. m concourse bridge. The new concourse bridge is 46 metres wide and spans 150 meters across the railway platforms. In fact, “the composition of the station’s new bridge gradually transforms along its length; from the pitched roof defined by the existing neoclassical station’s triangular pediment into softer geometries and volumes that reduce in scale to land at Pelosos Street in the Naujininkai district”.

The project proposes also to relocate the existing car parking in Stoties Square to a new underground facility. Moreover, it introduces a square and adjacent park, two vibrant civic spaces with over 300 new trees, and 4,000 sq. m of landscaping.

Architect: Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA)
Design: Patrik Schumacher
ZHA Director: Gianluca Racana
ZHA Project Directors: Ludovico Lombardi, Michele Salvi
ZHA Project Associate: Davide del Giudice
ZHA Project Team: Alexandra Fisher, Jose Navarrete Deza, Maria Lagging, Richard Maekallas, May Harper
ZHA Sustainability Team: Carlos Bausa Martinez, Megan Smylie, Taras Kashko, Vera Kichanova