New public transport terminal Utrecht
Utrecht’s central station is the Netherlands’ main railway hub and a busy regional public transport terminal. To be ready for the future, internationally acclaimed architects Benthem Crouwel were asked to design a completely new terminal building, increasing the station’s capacity to a staggering 100 million travellers a year by 2016. Its most striking feature is a large undulating roof, which will benefit greatly from Wavin’s QuickStream siphonic drainage system. Not only in terms of water management, but also in terms of aesthetics.
“Because of the shape and size of the roof, the drainage system had to be able to cope with huge amounts of water during periods of heavy rainfall”, explains Gert Drayer, account manager at Wavin. “At the same time, it was essential that the chosen drainage system would suit the architect’s design and meet its aesthetic requirements.”
Thanks to its smart high-capacity roof outlets, increased water flow and smaller pipe sizes, Wavin QuickStream turned out to be the ideal solution.
The system deals with peak rainfall conditions efficiently while taking up less building space, giving the architect more room to play with.Patrick Buck , director of projects at ProRail
“The system deals with peak rainfall conditions efficiently while taking up less building space, giving the architect more room to play with” says Patrick Buck, director of projects at ProRail. “And what really sealed the deal for us was the constructive and detailed advice from Wavin’s technical consultant and designer on how to tailor the system to our needs.”
As more important Dutch railway stations await modernization, Wavin has already proven that sound functionality is no barrier to eye-catching design. So we may see many more examples of smart looks through smart draining in the near future.
Visuals courtesy of Benthem Crouwel architects.